The Hunter and the Hunted
by gibbsrossi
Summary: Nate put a man in jail may years ago, a man he had forgotten about, but one that had never fogotten about him or the others who were involved in his case. This will be a team fic and with my usual Nate / Sophie slant. Note that there are scenes of torture in this story.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

He was a tall man, thin, with a pallid complexion as if he had been out of the sun for most of his life. His face was once a handsome one, but now, a long ragged scar stretched across it marring his features. He had long black hair which hung down over the collar of his shirt making him look scruffy and unkempt. His cold grey eyes seemed devoid of life. He stared at the scene before him, a small smile touched the edges of his mouth as he watched, relishing the screams of pain emanating from his victim. He had waited a long time for this. He had spent all his time planning this, living out this fantasy in his mind over and over and now, now he was coming good on his promise to himself, that they would pay, all of them would pay. He watched as the man burned until the screaming subsided and the warehouse was silent once more. He had spent more than three hour extracting his vengeance on the figure which hung, burnt beyond all recognition in that cold dark warehouse. He had taken great pleasure in the pain and suffering he had inflicted over the three hours of torture his victim had endured. He had relished the sound of the man as he begged for his life, and then begged for his death.

"One down…" The man said as he turned away from the horrific sight.

The body was only discovered two days later. The grizzly sight was one which turned the stomach of even the most hardened officers. The coroner eventually confirmed the identification of the corpse using dental records, he also informed the detectives on the case of the torture that the victim had endured before being burnt alive and in his opinion this was a very personal attack. The deceased was a retired police officer from Los Angeles, there seemed to be no motive for the murder, the officer had no enemies, and no reason at all for such a vicious attack could be found. The officers looked into some of the man's past record of arrests and followed a few leads from people who had threatened to 'get' him after he had taken them down, but none of them panned out. After a few weeks the case went cold.

Exactly one month later a burnt body was found hanging from the rafters of an old abandoned building in New York and had been for the last ten years, before that he had been a prosecutor in Los Angeles. The victim had been horribly tortured and then set alight. The police were dumbfounded as to who could have committed the crime. He was well liked and dealt mainly with white collar crimes. They looked into the possibility that somebody who he had prosecuted could have done this but found nothing. The man had not dealt with anybody who had threatened his life, in fact most of the men or woman he had put away had been for soft crimes, fraud and such and most of them had not received overly long sentences, it seemed improbable that one of them could have done anything like what had been done to him. They saw no possibility that he was killed for that reason and that left them with no idea as to why he had been killed at all. The killer had been very thorough, there was no forensic evidence left at the scene, none of the blood belonged to anybody but the victim and no tools or weapons of any kind were left behind. Again after a few weeks the case went cold.

A month later in an abandoned warehouse in Paris, France another gruesome discovery was made. A woman, who had been horribly assaulted and raped and then hung from the ceiling and burnt alive, was discovered. Again there was no progress made by the local police. The woman had been discovered to be a local art dealer who had retired from the business ten years previously in order to get married and raise a family. She had no enemies and there seemed no motive for the horrible attack. The police were baffled by the horrific murder but with no leads the case went cold, just as the ones in the United States had.

Six weeks later the man stood before his latest victim who was dangling before him from the ceiling of the warehouse he had taken him too.

"Wakey…wakey…" The man said as he threw a bucket of ice cold water over the man who had been stripped naked.

His captive gasped as the cold water hit him and then tentatively opened his eyes. His face contorted in pain as he came back to consciousness to feel the heavy strain on his arms and wrists. His feet were also bound together preventing any movement except for swinging.

"What…" The man asked confused as he woke from the cocktail of drugs he had been administered. He could remember nothing of how he had got here or who the man before him was. He closed his eyes and tried to remember what had happened, but all he could remember was walking to his car after having dinner with a friend, then nothing. "Who…what…why are you doing this…?" He asked trying to get his thoughts in order.

"Oh please don't tell me you have forgotten me…" The man said his voice as cold as the water that he had just thrown the man before him. His eyes narrowed as he surveyed him and then he turned his back walking to a table he had set up a short distance from him. He picked up a tool and ran his eyes over the instrument before turning back to the prone man.

"I don't…"

"What Mr High and Mighty Insurance Investigator…?" The man spat at him. "You don't what…know what's happening? Don't worry you will, you will… You don't recognise me do you…? Well maybe I can forgive you for that…I know I look a little different." He said softly running his hand over the scar that crossed his face. "Should I remind you of who I am…?" He asked stepping in closer and pushing the man making him sway slightly causing the wire that bound him to cut into his wrists with the movement.

Then without warning the man swung his arms back and lashed out the metal pipe he held striking his victim in his midriff and causing him to cry out in pain, the man tried to pull his legs up but the attack was relentless, his tormentor striking again and again. Then, breathing hard from the effort the man stepped back and watched as his victim who was hanging helplessly fought to regain his breath, tears streaming down his face from the pain.

"I don't…what…why are you doing this?" His victim stuttered out. He had no idea who the man in front of his was… he had no idea why this was happening. One thing he did know was that he was in serious trouble and that this was not going to end well for him.

"Why…why?" The man asked stepping forward again as his victim braced himself for another attack. "Let me ask you…do you recall the name Lawrence Pennington?" He said stepping back again and turning back to his table of tools.

"Lawrence…" The man said and then recognition came to him. Lawrence Pennington was a low level art thief that he had tracked down many years ago when he was only starting out in his career with IYS. This man bore no resemblance to the young cocky thief who he had imprisoned those many years ago.

"Ahhhh…you remember." Lawrence said as he turned back to him. He held in his hand a long vicious looking knife that he ran his hands over lovingly. "I'm touched."

"Please I don't know why you are doing this but…why are you doing this?" His prisoner asked. Lawrence Pennington had only been given a short sentence; he had been a first time offender who had got off lightly. There would be no reason for any of this.

"You have the audacity to ask me why?" Lawrence asked softly approaching the prone man once more. "Do you know Super Insurance Agent what they did to me? Do you care?" He asked and before his prisoner could answer he plunged the knife into his leg and pulled it down slicing it open and laughing as the blood flowed and the man screamed in pain. Once he had done with the one leg he moved on to the other, starting at the hip and drawing the knife down laying the leg open but being careful not to slice through the artery which would cause his prey to bleed out far too quickly.

"Lawrence please…" The pained and weak voice of his victim cried out. "He could not think straight, the pain was drowning out everything else.

"Lawrence please…" He repeated and then laughed loudly. "Hurts does it…?" He asked as he turned back to the table to get another toy with which to torment his prisoner. "I know all about pain…you, you and your friends gave me the opportunity to learn. Five years I spent there, the first year I was their toy, their plaything. They gave me this as a reminder that I belonged to them…" He said indicating his scar. "They gave me much more than that too..." He said bitterly the venom and the anger in his voice a warning to his captor that he was in more trouble than he thought. Then he turned back to the man his eyes shining as he surveyed the new towy he held. "But then I learned…then I became what you have made me, the man I am today…" He said as he walked back to the man. "Are you proud of your creation…?"

"I don't…I didn't…please…" The man said gritting his teeth against the pain.

"Please…please…." Stop whining and take your medicine." Lawrence snarled at him. Then he held up the instrument in his hands showing it to the bound man. "Nasty little things these…" He said as he stuck it into his captives belly sending electricity coursing through him and causing him to scream out in pain, begging for his tormentor to stop.

"You know the cop…Cartwright…" He said talking to the stricken man as if they were having a cup of tea together. He ran the instrument down his victims back noting with pleasure how he tried to pull himself away from the dreaded instrument. "He was the first to pay. I wasn't as well versed as I am now and he only lasted a few hours…" He said as he stuck the cattle prod into the man's body again causing him to spasm as the electricity flowed through him. "But I got better as I went along…the woman…that Bitch of an Art Dealer who tricked me...she lasted a full five hours but I must admit…" Lawrence said smiling at the prone man… "I have much higher hopes for you."

The torture continued well into the night, with Lawrence not only inflicting physical and psychological torture on his victim but also committing unspeakable acts using various instruments until his victim was barely alive. He was covered with welts, bruises and cuts. He had numerous broken bones and he had lost a tremendous amount of blood, the red liquid forming in pools below his suspended body. Finally Lawrence fetched a ladder and placed it beside the man. Then he picked up a gasoline filled bottle and made his way back climbing up the ladder slowly, his eyes surveying in the damaged body before him.

"Lawrence…please…" The man whispered his strength almost spent, but his eyes wide with fear as Lawrence emptied the bottle over him the gasoline burning as it covered his wounds. He closed his eyes as the liquid seeped into them bringing with it renewed agony and blinding him completely.

"Don't worry my dear man…all good things must come to an end and you…" Lawrence said patting the man's face lightly. "Well you are done aren't you? I wouldn't want to let you miss the grand finale…that just wouldn't do."

"Lawrence…" The man tried to gasp out as he watched in horror was Lawrence lit up a smoke and then tossed the lighter at him. Immediately the gasoline caught flame and the man screamed as the flames took him. It was a good few minutes before no more sound emanated from the man and Lawrence sighed heavily. He watched as the fire slowly burn itself out leaving only the charred corpse handing from the ceiling and complete silence filling the room.

"One left…" Lawrence Pennington whispered then he turned and packed up his things. He took one last look at his handiwork then left the warehouse without a backward glance.

**OK well that is the start of my new story. I know a very dark start I am sorry about that. I hope you are all going to enjoy the new story and I look forward to all your reviews and feedback. **


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

"Another shop…." Nate sighed as they walked down the street and Sophie abruptly stopped and indicated to the parcel laden Nate that they would go into the shop. "How many shoes does one woman need anyway…?"

"Oh stop complaining…" Sophie said as she turned back to him. "You promised you wouldn't remember…?" She reaching up putting her hand on his cheek and then leaned in to kiss him gently.

Nate enjoyed the soft feel of her lips and smiled through the kiss. This wasn't so bad really, although shopping with Sophie could be very exhausting, he was just happy to be here with her, he loved her so much and now, after everything that had happened in both of their lives they were finally together, husband and wife. Sophie felt him smile and pulled away to look him in the eyes.

"I promise we can go and get some lunch after this one." She told him and then turned and made her way into the shoe store with Nate on her heels. He unloaded his parcels and took a seat as he waited for his wife to finish perusing the merchandise. "Oh Nate look at these boots…" Sophie said holding up a pair of long leather boots that had the highest heels Nate had seen on a pair of shoes.

"Ah yes…nice…" He said smiling at her.

He knew his opinion was appreciated but not necessarily needed, Sophie would buy what she wanted to, and he was happy with whatever she did buy. He looked around the store and then noticed a paper lying on the little table beside his chair. Casting his eyes towards his wife who was now deep in conversation with the sales woman he picked up the paper and started to scan it. Suddenly he sat up in the chair his interest peeked by one of the front page stories.

"What is it Nate?" Sophie asked as she stood beside her husband. So engrossed in the article had he become that he did not even notice she had finished shopping and was standing beside him.

"Nothing…" Nate said looking up at her and smiling. She smiled back but he could see she wanted to know what had interested him. "Just and old acquaintance…she was murdered."

"She…?" Sophie asked and although she had a stern look on her face her tone was more one of concern than jealousy.

"Yeah, an art dealer from the old days, she helped me out on a case once."

"And she was murdered?"

"Yeah…and not in a nice way." Nate said putting the paper down and shaking his head before looking up at her. "So did we buy anything?" He asked her as he stood up and pulled her into a hug.

"Only one pair…the boots." Sophie said holding up the package.

"Can we go to lunch now I'm starving?" Nate said picking up the other parcels.

"Ok well there is a lovely little place just down the street here." Sophie said, she knew he was disturbed by the article he had just read but could also see he did not want to talk about it just then. She wrapped her arm in his and the two of them left the shop.

The little restaurant was cosy and intimate and the food was very, very good. After lunch Sophie excused herself and made her way to the bathrooms leaving Nate alone at the table. His mind returned to the article.

"It's bothering you isn't it?" Sophie said as she returned to the table to find Nate deep in thought again.

"What…" Nate said looking up at her. "No…no…" He sighed heavily, this woman knew him far too well. "Well yes…I mean…it was a terrible way to die." He said. It was not so much her death that bothered him but the way in which she had died. The article had not gone into details but it was clear that she had not had a very pleasant one.

"So how well did you know her?" Sophie asked retaking her seat.

"Not that well. Like I said she helped me out once to catch a thief." He smiled at her.

"Ah yes…and did you…catch the thief?" She asked her tone playful with a double meaning that Nate immediately picked up on and smirked at her. He took a sip of his whiskey as his mind took him back to that time.

"Yes actually we did. It was my first job as lead agent for IYS. The guy stole a couple of million dollars' worth of art from a museum in LA. Catherine helped hook him and we took him down."

"We…?"

"A LA cop...John Cartwright I think his name was and of course Sterling."

"Sterling?"

"Yeah it was our first job together, he had just moved to LA and started with IYS, he was assigned to the case as well. That was how we met actually."

"Interesting…" Sophie said sitting back and taking a sip of her wine. Nate smiled at her and then continued with the story.

"Anyway, we collared the guy and that was the last time I saw her. I heard she retired from the business to get married."

"And now she has been murdered…" Sophie said.

"Yes, tortured, raped and burnt alive." Nate said.

"What…?" Sophie gasped. "That is terrible." She shivered at the thought of what the poor woman must have gone through. "Do they know why?"

"No, the article said the police have no clues as to the motive or who could have done it." Nate replied. "Anyway…" He said reaching out and taking her hand. He could see that the information had upset her and he did not want to linger on it any more. "What is on the agenda for the rest of the day Mrs Ford?" He asked smiling at her. This was not something either he or she would like to be thinking about. This was their honeymoon and as much as he was disturbed by what had happened to Catherine Routing, there was nothing he could do about it and he was not going to allow it to interfere with their time together.

"Well…" Sophie said sitting back and smiling at him. "There is this little shop on the other side of town, it has the most fantastic clothes and…"

"More shopping…" Nate sighed and rolled his eyes at her.

"Don't you roll your eyes at me Mr Ford…you love my dresses…"

"I do…" He said leaning forward and taking her hand. "But I love you without them too…"

Sophie blushed slightly and squeezed his hand gently. "Oh you are a naughty, naughty man…" She whispered.

"Well…"

"I suppose we could go back to the hotel and…"

"Good idea…" Nate immediately said calling the waiter over so that he could settle the bill.

A few hours later they lay together with Sophie resting her head on Nate's chest just enjoying the comfort of each other. Nate slowly ran his hand up and down her arm his eyes closed as he thought about how his life had changed in the last five years.

"Nate…" Sophie said running her hand across his chest.

"Sophie…"

"What exactly did you have in mind for us…"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean now that we are out…" Sophie said pushing herself up and looking at him. "I mean what do we do after this…what are those big plans of yours?"

"This…I mean this was my big plan, you and me…I don't know what happens after this..." Nate said honestly. He had not really thought beyond asking the woman to marry him, and then he wasn't really sure.

"You must have a plan Nate…" She said. "I mean, I can go on with the theatre but what about you…and I don't even know if the theatre will keep me busy all the time and…"

"What are you saying?" Nate asked her. Sophie smiled and shook her head at him then lay back down.

"I don't know…" She admitted. "I miss them."

"Oh I see…"

"You do to…come on admit it."

"Sophie."

"Why…I mean why do you want out?"

"It's not that I want out…"

"Then what is it?" Sophie asked pushing herself away from him now and sitting up to look at him. Nate pushed himself up in the bed and sighed.

"I don't know…I…"

"Don't give me that Nathan Ford, you never do anything without a reason."

"I just…"

"You just what…?"

"Well…" Nate said now sitting up straight and staring at his wife. "Sophie…if anything had to happen to you…I…" Nate closed his eyes and sighed.

"Oh Nate…" Sophie said wrapping her arms around him and holding on to him.

"I can't take the chance. What we do…did…it is dangerous and you…having to go into situations that could get you hurt or…or worse…"

"Nate you darling man, life is dangerous. Look at that woman, Catherine, she was just a mother and a wife, did nothing special and nothing dangerous and look what happened to her. You can't protect me from life Nate."

"No but I can make sure you don't take unnecessary risks. You have your theatre and I…well I will find something to keep me busy."

"You LOVE Leverage…you love doing it and you are good at it, we are good at it. We help people, people who need help. I don't want to leave them Nate…I don't want to stop doing what we do and nor do you. "

"Sophie…"

"No, I understand I do…but please think about it."

"You know they don't need us right…" Nate said softly pulling her back to him and sliding down in the bed.

"Yes they do. They won't say it but they do, but more than that…we need them. I need them. They are family Nate and I miss them…" Sophie said softly as she rested her head on his chest again. "Just promise me you will think about it."

"I promise." Nate said kissing her head softly.

"I love you Nathan Ford." She said as he eyes closed and she drifted towards sleep.

"I love you Sophie Ford, more than you could ever imagine." He responded squeezing her tightly to him and closing his own eyes.

Together they drifted off to sleep completely unaware of the turmoil they were about to find themselves in within the days and weeks to come.

**Thank you all for your wonderful reviews. I am glad you all enjoyed the first chapter. **


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

"Well that didn't go so badly…" Eliot said as the three walked back into the Leverage offices after completing their first job without either Nate or Sophie. They had had some hitches but in the end everything had worked out fine. How Eliot was not quite sure but it had and that was all that mattered.

"Oh no not at all…" Hardison said sarcastically lifting his eyes to the ceiling as he flopped down on the sofa.

"It could have been worse…" Eliot said as he returned from the kitchen with a bottle of orange soda for Hardison and a beer for himself. Parker flopped down next to Hardison and sighed heavily.

"How…how could it have been worse Eliot?" Hardison asked the Hitter.

"Well we could all be dead and the client could be without closure on the loss of his daughter."

"We nearly were all dead…and we nearly botched the job entirely."

"Right…the operative word there being 'nearly'." Eliot said.

The job should have been an easy one. It should have only taken a week at most. Instead it had taken almost a month to pull off and not only had Eliot taken a bullet in the shoulder, Parker had been caught and beaten whilst she had tried to play Grifter and added to that Hardison had been run off the road and nearly killed. The fact that they had managed to pull it through in the end was a miracle. They had to face it. If Nate and Sophie were not coming back they had to look for a new Grifter at least. He knew that Parker was the one Nate had indicated would take the job of Mastermind, but she also had to be the thief. She was a good planner, and in time he had no doubt she would be as good, if not better than Nate. But Nate was wrong, they still needed him, they needed his guidance and his steady hand, his ability to make decisions and change the game at the spur of the moment. They needed his ability to see the big picture, see every moving part, every player in the game. Then there was Sophie. They needed her with them, she steadied them, calmed them and there was nobody that could Grift like she could. They needed Sophie and Nate back.

"I miss them." Parker said quietly. When she had said she was alright with Nate and Sophie leaving she had not meant it. Well she had, but not really. She was never going to stand in the way of either one of their happiness even though she did not want to see them go. They deserved some happiness, but why couldn't they be happy here with them doing what they did best? She had to admit that she was overwhelmed by the trust that Nate had put in her, the belief he had in her to continue his legacy with her two friends and she did not want to let him or them down. She had almost got them all killed over the last few weeks and that scared her, the responsibility scared her silly. This job had showed her that she was capable of doing what Nate told her she could, but she also knew it had showed her that she was not quite yet ready to go out on her own, to lead this team.

"Yeah…" Eliot sighed draping himself over the edges of the overstuffed chair opposite the sofa. He missed them too. He was not sure he could keep the three of them alive if all of their jobs were going to go down the way this one had.

"Why do you think he wanted to leave?" Hardison asked. "I mean…why would he want to stop doing something he loved doing, something he is so damn good at? I know Sophie was just as surprised as the rest of us and I don't think she wanted to go…I don't mean with him I mean you know…"

"I don't know why but he did." Eliot said softly. He had wondered that himself. Sophie had the theatre yes, but Nate…what was the man going to do with his time. Eliot knew Nate was not one to sit around and do nothing so he must have something planned, what though, he had no idea.

"Where are they now?" Eliot asked looking at Hardison knowing the man had his eyes on them.

"In Paris...been there for the last six weeks, but they are booked on a flight coming in tomorrow."

"They are coming home?" Parker said suddenly perking up.

"Yeah they are coming home. Well at least back to Portland, not sure for how long though." Hardison confirmed. He was just as despondent that the two had left the family. Everything seemed wrong to him without them. He missed them, he missed Nate, his guiding hand, the man who kept him on track always, no matter how worked up he got, or how close to flipping out he was, or how much he goofed off. He missed Sophie, he missed her council, he missed them and he wanted them back.

"Maybe we can have dinner here when they get back." Eliot said his mind starting to plan the menu.

"What time do they get in?" Parker asked.

"I don't know…let me check." Hardison said getting up and moving to his computer. "Ok they get in at…"

"Hardison…" Parker asked as Hardison's voice faded out without finishing the sentence.

"Hardison what is it?" Eliot said as he looked at the Hacker and saw the expression on his face change. Something was wrong…oh God something had happened to Sophie or Nate or both of them he thought his stomach knotting in fear.

"Hardison..." Parker said loudly getting up and approaching the Hacker.

"Sterling is dead." Hardison said looking up at the two of them.

"What…how…?" Eliot said relief flooding over him that it was not Nate or Sophie that were in trouble, but still shocked to hear that Sterling was dead.

"Murdered…" Hardison replied working on his computer to bring up the details. Eliot watched the Hacker and then saw the colour drain from the man's face as he ducked away from the table headed to the bathroom. Eliot immediately moved around to look at what had caused the drastic reaction in the Hacker and stopped dead staring at the image on the screen.

"What the…" Parker hissed out as she too looked at the picture.

"This is the police report…." Eliot said stepping closer to read the information that was displayed. "Somebody really did not like Sterling." He said. "They took a long time to ID the body."

"I'm not surprised." Parker said looking at the picture of the body on the slab. "That's a lot of rage Eliot…Why would anybody do that to him?"

"No idea Parker…We need the coroner's report."

"So what do we do?"

"I don't know but this is bad. Really bad… Nate is not going to like this." Eliot said immediately wondering what reaction Nate would have to the death of his friend in such a manner. "He's going to want answers and he is going to want to get the son-of-a-bitch who did this."

"He didn't deserve that…Nobody deserves that…" Hardison said as he re-entered the room after emptying his stomach contents. "I mean I know the guy is an ass and that he tried to get us locked up but…"

"He didn't deserve that." Parker concluded agreeing with Hardison.

"You got the coroner's report?" Eliot asked the Hacker as he got to work again.

"No but give me a minute…"

"You think it was somebody he arrested in the past or do you think it was linked to his current case…?" Parker asked, this had to be somebody Sterling knew it had to be somebody with a grudge against him.

"I don't know Parker but this wasn't random, no way." Eliot told her.

"What does the coroner's report say?" Parker asked Hardison who was no scouring the documents he had managed to collect. It always amazed the woman at what Hardison could get his hands on in such short time.

"Well the body was found yesterday but they are estimating he was killed about five days ago…" He looked up from the screen at them. "He had multiple injuries, he was sodomised with…." Hardison held his hand up to his mouth as the gall rose in him again. "He was electrocuted, all his ribs were broken, his spleen was…well the list just goes on and on." Hardison said unable to disguise his revulsion at what Sterling had gone through.

"What else?" Eliot asked, they needed something to work with. "They connected any dots…"

"No in fact there is nothing, no forensic evidence at all. They are following up on possible motives, people who had a grudge against him because of his work you know and everybody linked to his current investigation…that's all though. I don't think they have a clue."

"Well let's see what we can dig up then." Parker instructed the Hacker. "When do Nate and Sophie get in?

"Plane lands at five tomorrow..." Hardison informed her.

"Do you think Nate will have heard about this by now?"

"Well it's not in the papers. I picked it up because…"

"Because he keeps tabs on everybody he knows, everybody we know and everybody who would like to get to know us…right?" Eliot finished for him.

"Best to know where your enemy is and what he is up to…" Hardison said raising his eyebrows at the Hitter. "Anyway point is that Nate won't have heard, not unless somebody told him."

"Have next of kin been notified?" Eliot asked thinking of Sterling's daughter who they had helped get out of Dubai only a year ago.

"Yes…" Hardison said checking the report.

"You think she might try to contact Nate?" Parker asked the Hitter.

"I don't know if she would know how to." Eliot said thoughtfully. He hoped she didn't because Nate might just go off on a tangent on his own and get himself and Sophie into trouble at the same time. This man…this psychopath that had inflicted that kind of torture on Sterling was not somebody he wanted Nate tangling with alone. "Hardison…"

"She is with her mothers' parents." Hardison told him.

"Ok…well let's assume that Nate is only going to find out about this after he gets home and hopefully from us." She was sure it would probably be in the local news but she doubted it would be in the French papers or on local French TV. It might make CNN but hopefully only after Nate was already home. "So let's have some information for him when he gets here." Parker said. "If he is going to go after this…whoever this is… and we know he is, then he is not going to do it alone."

"Amen to that…" Eliot breathed.

**Thanks for the great reviews they really inspire me to write. So how will Nate react to the news of Sterling's death? What will the team dig up about Sterling and will they connect it to any of the other similar deaths in LA, New York and Paris? Will Pennington get to Nate before anybody can stop him? So many questions I know…**


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

"Nate...Sophie…" An exited voice called out as Parker pushed through the crowds to get to them.

"Parker…" Nate said in a surprised voice. He was not aware that they knew that he and Sophie were returning today, he had not let them know. Nate glanced at Sophie who stood beside him with a wide smile on her face as Parker grabbed her and pulled her into a huge hug.

"I missed you guys…" She said moving from Sophie to assault Nate with another hug.

"Parker, how did you know we were coming back today?" Nate asked the woman as he disentangled himself from her.

"Oh you know…" Parker said smiling broadly. "Hardison…"

"Ah…" Nate said needing no further explanation. He smiled to himself thinking at least they would not have to tell them where he and Sophie had been on honeymoon.

"Hey you guys…" The man himself said appearing out of nowhere to take Sophie's bags. "We missed you."

"Hey Hardison…" Nate greeted as the Hacker hugged Sophie hello. He turned to Nate then and saw the look on the Mastermind's face telling him not to do the same to him.

"Lucille's outside…" Eliot said coming up beside Nate and taking his bag from him. "Nice to have you back..."

Nate looked at him and smiled as he shook his hand and then followed them out of the terminal. Maybe the three of them had missed him and Sophie as much as they had missed them.

"I've got food ready at the Microbrewery…" Eliot said as they all climbed in the van.

"OK…what's going on?" Nate asked, Hardison seemed nervous and Eliot was trying to get them into the van and to the brewery far too quickly, something was going on.

"Nothing…" Eliot said. "I just thought maybe you guys would be hungry and…"

"Eliot?"

"Sterling is dead." Eliot said deciding that trying to hide the fact from Nate was pointless. He had hoped to tell the man once they had gotten to the brewery and they could sit down and talk about it there.

"What…" Nate and Sophie said simultaneously. "How…" Nate asked.

"He was murdered." Eliot told him. "We have everything at the office."

"Then let's get to the office." Nate said his voice hard and his expression dark. Sophie took his hand and squeezed it gently but said nothing. She was as shocked by the news as Nate was. This was not the homecoming she had hoped for.

The ride to the brewery was fast and silent. Nate's demeanour had changed as he sat and thought about the fact that Sterling, his one-time friend, a man who had been as close to him as anybody once upon a time, had been murdered. He was going to find out why and who and that was all there was too it. He owed his friend that.

"Ok…let's have it." Nate said as they strode into the office of Leverage Inc.

Hardison nodded and then went to his computer picking up the remote that lay beside it. He went through the story smoothly, along with what they had been able to find out about what had happened to Sterling on that fateful night. Sophie gasped in horror as Hardison went through the details of how Sterling had died. Nate however did not react at all. Silence followed his presentation with everybody waiting for Nate to speak. The Mastermind walked over to the wet bar and poured himself a whiskey then returned to stand in front of them.

"Hardison there was a woman killed in Paris about six weeks ago, a Catherine Routing, I need everything that you can get on the murder and on the woman and I need it now." Nate said turning to look at Sophie.

"You think they are connected?" Sophie asked her eyes widening with fear as the implication of that sunk in.

"I also need you to track down John Cartwright, he was a detective with the LAPD." Nate said taking a sip of his whiskey.

"Nate…" Eliot said picking up on Nate's tone and Sophie's frightened expression. "What is going on here?"

"I don't know Eliot, but Catherine was killed in a very similar fashion to Sterling and as far as I know their only connection is a case we all worked on, along with John."

"Who is dead…!" Hardison said looking up from his computer. "Murdered…"

"Same way…?" Eliot asked. The Hitter did not like the way this was going.

"Yes…" Hardison told him and looked towards Nate. "I ran a check and there was another similar murder in New York. A man by the name of Jason Byron he…"

"Was a prosecutor in LA, he prosecuted the case." Nate finished for him. But this made no sense. The man they had caught and sent to prison had only received a light sentence of five years…why, why would he take this kind of revenge? "You also need to run a check on Judge Mark Brody" Nate said, if he was right and these were all connected then the Judge would be on the man's hit list as well.

"Who was the guy, they one you took down?" Eliot asked. There could be no doubt now, whoever had killed Sterling was the same person who had killed the other two people named. That meant that Nate was on a list somewhere and that this psycho was going to come after him to.

"His name is Lawrence Pennington." Hardison immediately typed the name into his search machine as Nate spoke. "He was an art thief. It was one of his first jobs and the first time he had been caught." Nate said casting his mind back to the case and trying to picture the man. "But it makes no sense." He said shaking his head slightly. "Pennington got a light sentence, as a first time offender and everything… he was only given five years."

"Which turned into a lot longer…" Hardison said putting up a picture of a prison inmate on the screen. "Meet Lawrence Pennington." Hardison brought up the photo taken of the man when he had left the prison. He had changed Nate thought, he was older, with scar that marred his face. He looked angry and bitter his face twisted with hate, his eyes cold and hard. "He was incarcerated for art theft for a period of five years. He was given a further fifteen years after killing another inmate and seriously injuring a guard during the second year of his term."

"No…" Nate shook his head slightly as he listened to Hardison speak. "He wasn't violent, not at all…"

"Maybe not but his first year in prison was not good. He was sent to a maximum security prison. He was abused and beaten spending a lot of time in the infirmary, he was also sexually assaulted on numerous occasions…this guy got the bad end of it man." Hardison said reading the prison files. "The man he killed was one of the guys who…well made him into a slave of sorts if you get my meaning. He spent most of the remainder of his term in solitary confinement."

"No wonder he's a nutcase." Parker said.

"Oh Nate…the Judge…" Hardison said as the information he had been searching for came through.

Nate looked up and nodded at the Hacker.

"He died seven years ago…cancer."

"Lucky him…" Sophie whispered. Rather that than the kind of thing this lunatic was putting his victims through.

"So we have four people who all worked on the one case together and they are all dead, three of them tortured and then murdered by being burnt alive…there is only one person left on that list Nate." Eliot said quietly.

The room remained silent as they waited for Nate to say something. The Mastermind rose and made his way back to the bar refilling his drink. Then he turned and faced them seeing the concern and worry on their faces and the downright near panic on Sophie's. He sighed heavily and took a sip of his whiskey before speaking.

"Hardison I need a ticket to LA."

"No way Nate…" Eliot hissed. Was the man insane? They had just determined that a man with serious intent to kill him was out there and now he wanted to hop a plane to LA? He needed to stay here, safe in this little haven that Hardison had created, they could protect him here.

"Hardison a ticket… I also want to know where Sterling's daughter is, I need to see her." He said ignoring his Hitter completely. "When is the funeral?"

"Nate please… Eliot's right you should not be exposing yourself." Sophie said moving towards the Mastermind.

"Find out when the funeral is Hardison, and have those tickets ready for me…" He said downing the rest of the whiskey. "I want to be there tonight if possible. Sophie…" Nate said stepping forward and putting his hands on her shoulders. "He was my friend…no matter what happened between us, he was my friend." He said softly.

"I know…" Sophie replied. "I just…I'm scared Nate…"

"So am I." He smiled at her. "But I have to go to LA and I have to stop Pennington."

Sophie nodded slightly, she knew he would go, with or without her or anybody else's blessing.

"Hardison I also need everything, and I mean everything you got on all of the murders and on Pennington." He told the Hacker.

"Done Nate but man…this guy is…he's wacked man and he is coming after you."

"Relax Hardison…" Nate told the Hacker. "With you lot around, he won't get to me right?" He said.

"Nate why don't we just give this to the police, let them track Pennington down?" Eliot asked causing both Parker and Hardison to raise an eyebrow. "Hardison can give everything to Interpol…"

"No." Nate said shaking his head at the suggestion. "No if you give it to them they will put everything together and the last thing any of us need is Interpol or the local police here." Nate told them.

"They will put it together though." Eliot said.

"Maybe…in my experience the local authorities don't play well with others, they don't share. Interpol might put it together in time, time we don't have." Nate said. "Understand this all of you, I am going to find Pennington and I am going to make him pay for what he has done." Nate told them. "Now we have had a long flight and we are going to go freshen up." He said taking Sophie's hand and leading her to the rooms at the back of the offices before any of them could comment on his last statement.

The three watched them walk away and all of them had one thought. Nate was not going to make this easy, if he was going to go after Pennington and Pennington was after him, who was the hunter and who the hunted, and how the hell were they going to make sure Nate stayed safe.

**Thank you all so very, very much for all the wonderful reviews. So Nate connected the murders and now he is determined to go after Pennington. Where is Pennington and when and how is he going to make his move against Nate? Thanks again for all the reviews, they are so very much appreciated.**


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

"You both stay here." Nate told Eliot and Sophie as he exited the van. They had arrived in LA late the previous evening and had gone straight to the hotel. It was now nine in the morning and Sophie, Nate and Eliot found themselves parked outside Olivia's grandparent's house. Hardison and Parker had stayed behind to go through any and all information that Hardison could get together.

"Nate…" Sophie said softly holding his hand tightly. She, like the rest of them, were nervous to let Nate out of their sight, just the thought of Pennington doing what he did to the others to Nate made her blood run cold.

"Nothing is going to happen to me between here and her front door Sophie." Nate told her giving her a light kiss. "Besides Hardison has more tracking devices on me than I care to imagine and I have the coms in ok?"

Sophie smiled at him and nodded. He squeezed her hand and then turned to walk up the pathway to the door. He took a deep breath and then rang the doorbell.

He could hear footsteps approaching and then the door opened. The man standing before him was in his mid to late sixty's he would estimate.

"Good morning." Nate said.

"Who are you and what do you want?" The man asked brusquely.

"Mr Ford…?" A small voice came from behind the man who moved slightly as the young girl pushed passed him to stand in front of Nate.

"Olivia…" Nate said his eyes softening and his voice dropping low.

"Are you here because…because of what happened to my Dad?"

"Yes." Nate said quietly.

"It's ok Granddad, Mr Ford is a friend of Dad's…" She said. The she turned to Nate. "Come in Mr Ford."

Nate smiled at her and nodded as he followed her through the door and into the sitting room. Her Grandfather closed the door behind them and then disappeared, leaving Olivia and Nate alone.

"Olivia I am so sorry…" Nate said taking a seat next to her on the sofa.

"Why…I mean…do you think it was because of his job?" Olivia asked her eyes swimming in unshed tears.

"I don't know Olivia." Nate replied. He did not want to tell her the truth, not yet anyway.

"Promise me Mr Ford…" Olivia said staring at the Mastermind. "Promise me you will make the person who killed him pay."

"Olivia…"

"No, I want him to pay. I know…I know what…what…" Olivia could not hold back the tears now. She drew in a deep breath and bit her lip as she tried to control her emotions. "I know what they did to him. I want him dead…"

"Olivia I promise you, I will find the person who did this and they will pay." Nate told her putting his hand on her shoulders as he spoke. How she had found out the details of Sterling's death he did not know, but he could see she was haunted by the images of that, he cursed the person who had told her, it was something she really had not needed to know.

Olivia kept her composure for about a second before she broke down sobbing and grabbed onto Nate holding on to him as she let her emotions out.

"Why…why…" She sobbed uncontrollably. She had not been able to let herself go, not in front of her Grandparents who she barely knew. She barely knew Nate too, but she somehow felt safe with him, safe enough to allow herself to let release her emotions in front of him.

Nate held the girl rubbing her back gently as she cried letting her grief and her anger flow from her. Then he felt her push away from him and she looked into her eyes seeing the hatred there that he had once borne, and knowing that it was going to consume her, the hatred she felt for this unknown man who had taken her father from her. He would not let that happen. He would give her the peace she needed, the closure she needed.

"First my mother was killed and… and now just when I had got my Dad back this…this animal…" She hissed out the word. "Took him away… Mr Ford, you were his friend and I know he was yours. Please…please don't let his…what they did…don't let it go unpunished." She said quietly.

"I won't." Nate affirmed again. They sat in silence for a while before she spoke again.

"Are you going to come to the funeral?" She asked then sitting back and drying her eyes.

"Yes…"

"Good…he would want you there." She said then seeing Nate's expression she continued. "I know you and he…well I know that you weren't close, not after…but he trusted you, that was why he asked you to help me in Dubai and he told me I could trust you, always." She explained.

She knew this man before her, knew him better than he thought she did. Her father had told her all about him. After what he had done for her she had wanted to know. How they had been friends and then, after the loss of his son, how they had become…well not quite enemies, but no longer friends. Her father had never told her why, but she knew he felt it was his fault, something he had done, or rather not done, when Nate needed him most. But she knew that this man was capable of getting her revenge for her, and she knew if he said he would he would. Her father had told her that despite everything, Nate Ford always kept his word and could always be relied upon to do the right thing.

"Anything you need Olivia you just let me know." Nate said handing her a card with his numbers on it. "Anything… anytime day or night, alright"

She nodded holding back the tears that threatened again. Then they both rose and walked to the door.

"Thank you…" Olivia whispered as she opened the door.

Nate smiled at her and put his hands on her shoulders. "I know this is hard Olivia, I know you are angry, but we will get the person who did this and then you will move on. Your father loved you very much and he would want you to live your life ok?"

Olivia nodded and smiled back at the Mastermind. Nate nodded in return then turned walking back to the waiting van.

"Are you alright?" Sophie asked as he climbed into the van and took his seat beside her.

"Fine…" He said taking her hand in his. "Eliot, let's get back to the Hotel and see what Hardison has for us."

The drive back to the hotel was spent in silence. Nate was deep in thought and Sophie decided to let him be. She knew he was trying to work out a way of bringing Pennington into the open, and she hoped he was not considering doing it by using himself as bait. She was not going to allow that, and she knew Eliot and the others would back her in that decision. He needed to think of another way. Arriving at the hotel Eliot parked in the underground parking and then before he would let them out of the van he did a quick surveillance, then he led Nate and Sophie back up to the penthouse where they were all staying. Although Nate did not think that what he considered over the top caution displayed by Eliot was necessary, he did not say anything about it though, it made the Hitter and Sophie happy and so he let them be.

"Hardison, what have you got?" Nate asked immediately as he walked in and made his way over to the wet bar.

"Nothing new... Pennington is a ghost, no records anywhere. Not on the grid at all. He served his full sentence so no parole…nothing man." Hardison said sounding despondent. He had hoped to have something for Nate by the time they returned.

"He's here." Nate said sitting down and taking a sip of his drink.

"What…?" Sophie gasped out, how did Nate know that…had he seen him? "How…"

"Relax Sophie…" Nate smiled at her. "No I haven't seen him, I just know. He is here…he will know I am here…"

"Nate's right. This guy plans meticulously. He is a hunter and he has studied his prey. He will know Nate is here, that he would come to Sterling's funeral."

Parker's eyes widened as Eliot spoke and then she turned to stare out the window almost as if she thought she might see the man standing on the street looking up at them.

"So what do we do now?" Hardison asked breaking the uncomfortable silence.

"We keep digging, there has to be something that Pennington missed, some clue he left behind at the scenes of his…crimes." Nate said picking up a stack of papers Hardison had left for him on the table.

"Nate, going to the funeral tomorrow…"

"I'm going." Nate interrupted the Hitter before he could finish his thought, and there was finality in his voice that he could see Eliot understood. He knew that Eliot did not like the fact that they were going. There were going to be a lot of people and Eliot felt he could not protect Nate in that kind of environment.

"Look we don't know how this guy got them, maybe he drugged them, maybe he blitz attacked. If you get separated from us, even for a minute…"

"Eliot I am going to the funeral and that is the end of that." Nate said looking up at the Hitter. "If he comes after me there…well…"

"That's what you want isn't it?" Sophie said softly. "You want him to come after you, you want to draw him out and let him come for you...you are going to let yourself be the bait for this madman aren't you?"

"Sophie…"

"Don't Nate. You know you always want to be the bloody hero don't you? You put yourself in harms' way without a thought to anything or anybody else. You don't even think of what…of…of what it does to us…"

"Soph…"

"No Nathan. You could give this to the police, let them find him and just stay safe until then, let us protect you, let Eliot and Parker and Hardison and me protect you…until this madman is caught." Sophie stormed on holding up her hand to stop him when he wanted to interrupt her tirade. "But no…not you, you want to go and put yourself out there as a target for Pennington. You know that he is not a threat to anybody but you. He is after you dammit and nobody else. I know you want to…to make him pay for what he did to the others but Nate, don't you see, he knows you like Eliot said. He will know how…how blinded to everything you get when you set your mind to something, you don't care if you get hurt in the process of reaching your goal, you don't care…" Sophie said tears now forming in her eyes as she spoke.

"Sophie we don't know…"

"Don't we…?" Sophie said snapping her head up and staring into Nate's eyes angrily. "He knew when to get to Sterling…It's all there Nate. He knew when he would be vulnerable, where he was going, the same with the cop and the prosecutor and Catherine. He knew their routine, what they did, where they were. You think he doesn't know you? He has had a lifetime of hatred for all of you driving him and he has planned this all, all of it, down to the very last tee. Now his plan is to get to you and…do…do to you what…" Sophie took a deep breath and closed her eyes as she thought of what this man wanted to do to Nate washed over her. "What he did to them. And you…what do you do…you want to put yourself out there as bait for him, let him come and get you...give him the opportunity to get you…" Sophie said almost shouting at him now as she voiced her frustration with him and her fear for him.

"Take a breath Sophie." Nate said seeing that the woman was now verging on being hysterical. He had never seen her like this before. "Nothing is going to happen to me. I have you…" He said looking around the room at the other three occupants who had remained silent during Sophie's outburst. "All of you... and yes I want him to come after me because that is the only way we are going to draw him out." He said hearing the sharp intake of breath from all of them at his admission. "You are right, he wants me. Nobody else…He has waited a long time for his revenge on us, all of us and now there is nobody else left except me. If he comes after me now, or in a week or in a month…does it matter? It is better if he does it now, when we are ready for him, not in a month from now when we let our guards drop." Nate said taking a step towards his wife who stood staring at him tears flowing freely down her face. "Sophie…I don't want to do this but I have to. He is obsessed, you said it yourself, and he is not going to stop. I can't live in hiding until the police find him. Hell they couldn't find a burning candle on a dark night…" He said now standing in front of her. He reached out and lifted her head up so that her eyes met his. "Sophie I do care, do you think I want to put you through this…any of you? I love you. I know you are scared, all of you are scared, including me. We can't hide from this and we can't run from it. Pennington is real, what he is doing is real and he wants me. That is the fact and we have to deal with it." Nate told her. "I am not saying we don't take precautions, Hardison will have me wired from head to toe, I will have the coms and I will have all of you watching my back…"

"Oh Nate…" Sophie sobbed out wrapping her arms around him and pulling him tight to her clinging to him as if her life depended on it. Nate stood there and let her hold him as he held her.

"Ok…so the plan is what?" Eliot asked.

Nate took Sophie by the shoulders and moved her away from him giving her a light kiss before turning to face the three other members of his family.

"Like I said we go through all of this again, there must be something we are missing. How did he get to them? How did he get them to the buildings he used? He must have known where he was going to take them. How long does he keep them, missing person's reports on any of the victims will give us a timeline. Hardison, assuming he has plans for me here, we need to look at buildings that will be suitable for what he does…they have to be abandoned and deserted, this is a messy and noisy way of killing, he needs the isolation and the time…we know he takes his time with them. Anything we can use people, no matter how small or insignificant." Nate said walking over to the wet bar and refilling his glass of whiskey. "Parker…go through the autopsy reports. You are looking for indications of drugs, he has to have incapacitated all of them somehow, Sterling and I am sure John were fighters, they would not go willingly, does he do it by drugging them or in some other manner? Eliot I need you to go through the police forensics reports, see if there was anything there, tyre marks, footprints anything we can use to try and track the man. Sophie…" Nate finished off turning to his wife. "You can go through their personal files. Find out about their routine, see if you can see where he would have taken them from, did he wait till they were alone or was that not significant? You can use the estimated time of death to get the timeframe you are looking at." He told her.

"What are you going to do?" Sophie asked as Nate dished out his instructions.

"I am going to get reacquainted with Lawrence Pennington." Nate said sitting down and picking up the file Hardison had put together on the erstwhile art thief. He needed to know everything that happened to the man, everything from the time of his arrest to the time of his release.

Sophie nodded and set to work on her part. The others followed suite and the penthouse filled with an ominous silence. Nate glanced up at them, watching them under hooded eyes. He was not sure he was going to be able to escape his fate, but if he didn't then it would not be from lack of trying on their part. He shook his head and took a sip of his whiskey. It seemed that every time he was happy, every time he felt life could get no better, something would come back and remind him that he was Nathan Ford, a man who did not deserve happiness and peace. He sighed heavily taking another sip of his drink before going back to the papers lying in front of him.

**Thank you for all of your reviews. So do you think Pennington will go for Nate at the funeral? Will the team be able to stop him if he does? How well does Pennington know Nate, and how well does he know the team and how they work? Is Nate's fate sealed?**


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

The following day found the team at the church were Sterling's funeral was going to be held. They had arrived early on the insistence of Eliot who wanted to check out the church and surrounds. Hardison had put almost every tracking device he owned on Nate trying to ensure that if Pennington did get to the Mastermind and find one there would be another to take its place. All of them had their coms in. The tension amongst the group was palpable as the people started to arrive. Nate saw Olivia and her Grandparents arrive and climbed out of the van and headed over to her with Sophie on his arm.

"Mr Ford…" Olivia said as he approached her. "I am so glad you are here."

"Olivia..." Nate greeted and then introduced Sophie to her.

"So you married her…" Olivia smiled despite the circumstances. "Dad said you should."

Sophie smiled at the girl and squeezed Nate's hand a little.

"He did, did he…?" Nate said a quizzical look on his face.

"Yes he did…" Olivia said then paused and Nate could see she wanted to ask something but was unsure how to. "Mr Ford…" She said hesitantly. "Would you…would you say something…" Olivia paused not sure how to ask the man to give her father's eulogy. "I mean you knew him for a long time and…and I think he would want that…"

"I would be honoured Olivia." Nate told her and smiled as he saw her relax slightly.

"Thank you."

"Shall we go in?" Nate asked watching the other people file into the church. Olivia nodded turning to make her way into the church to the front pews with Sophie and Nate behind her.

Nate did not know where the others were but assumed they would be keeping surveillance around the church. He knew that Hardison had set up cameras around and that he was probably in the van watching them, waiting for any sign of Pennington. Parker and Eliot were probably patrolling around while Sophie kept watch over him not letting his hand go for one second. The service went smoothly with Nate delivering a moving eulogy for his friend. He had also agreed to be a pall bearer and once the service was over he stood to take his place with the others to carry the coffin out to waiting hearse. Sophie reluctantly released his hand and watched him take his place. She made sure she was right behind the procession keeping her eyes fixed on her husband and he helped carry the coffin out of the church.

"No sign of him…" Eliot reported in as Nate and the others exited.

"Maybe he is not coming. I mean how is he going to get to Nate here anyway?" Parker said after Hardison had also reported no sign of Pennington anywhere.

Sterling's funeral had been well attended with over a hundred people there, previous and current colleagues, friends of his family and of Olivia's in were in attendance. Nate helped put the coffin into the hearse and then turned to look for Sophie. For a moment she was swallowed up by the crowd of people exiting the church and making their way to their vehicles. Nate felt a sharp jab of something in his arm and then felt himself falling. Before he hit the ground he was lifted up and put into the back of the hearse with the coffin. He tried to say something to warn the others that Pennington was there but found he could say nothing. He could not move either and he felt darkness gathering around him until there was nothing.

"Nate…Nate where are you?" Sophie called over the coms. She had lost sight of him for a moment and when the crowds finally cleared he was nowhere to be seen.

"Nate…" Eliot said adding his voice to Sophie's as he pressed his hand to his ear to make sure the com was in place. "Dammit Nate talk to me…"

"He's still here…the hearse…" Hardison said checking his tracking devices.

Eliot and Sophie immediately started to move in the direction of the hearse. But as they got there the car started moving out with the procession leaving the church grounds headed to the cemetery.

"Hardison…"

"He's moving Eliot…he must be in the hearse." Hardison said moving to the front of the van and starting it up ready to follow.

"Everybody to the van now…" Eliot said grabbing Sophie's hand and pulling her along with him. They arrived at the van along with Parker.

"Nate…Nate please talk to me…" Sophie kept saying hoping that he would answer. But there was nothing, no sound at all.

"Dammit Hardison…" Eliot said frustrated by the slowness with which Hardison was manoeuvring the van out of the grounds.

"Eliot can you see there is nowhere to go…can you…" Hardison shouted back at him his temper rising as was his level of frustration and fear. They were stuck in the procession and there was nothing they could do to go faster.

"Ok…Eliot stop." Parker said feeling the tensions rising. "Just follow them Hardison…if Nate is in the hearse we know where they are going. If it stops along the way we will know."

Silence ensued as Hardison fought his way through the traffic and arriving at the cemetery Eliot jumped from the van before he had even stopped running at full tilt towards the front of the procession and the hearse. They were somewhere near the back of the procession and when he got there the coffin had already been removed to the grave site and there was no sign of Nate.

"He's not here Hardison…" Eliot said as he arrived at the vehicle.

"He must be…the signal hasn't moved." Hardison said running towards him with Sophie and Parker behind him.

"Dammit Hardison…he's not here!" Eliot hissed out. The Hitter grabbed the doors to the hearse and swung them open. Then he stopped and stared at the heap of clothing lying on the bed of the vehicle. Cursing violently he hit the door of the car putting his hand through the window in his frustration.

Hardison and the others arrived just as he punched the window out causing blood to colour his hand from where the glass had cut into him. Hardison leaned in and pulled out the clothes. It was Nate's.

"How the hell did he do this…there wasn't time." Hardison asked softly. "We only lost him for a second."

"A second is all it takes Hardison." Eliot told the Hacker. He knew that. If you were well organised and ready a second was more than enough time. He should have known, he should have insisted that Nate not go to the funeral.

"Eliot we were right behind him, how the hell did he…" Hardison said still not sure how this had happened.

"Does it matter?" Eliot said despondently.

"We've lost him…" Parker said softly looking at the bundle of clothing in Hardison's hands and her heart sinking at the realisation of what was happening.

"No…" Sophie said shaking her head. "Hardison check your gadgets…"

"Sophie he removed everything…everything, even the earbud…" Hardison told her.

"No…" Sophie repeated shaking her head. "Listen to me. I made him put a second com in just in case…" She told him. "He had one in each ear."

Hardison stared at her for a second and then smiled broadly lifting his phone and punching in the information. The phone searched for a short while and then picked up the second signal.

"Got him…" Hardison told them. "They are on the move."

Parker looked back at the van they were using and decided that that was not going to work. She moved quickly to the car parked just behind the hearse and was inside in a matter of seconds. The others looked at her but only for a second and then all of them climbed in. Parker barely waited for them all to be in before flooring the accelerator and heading off in the direction Hardison gave her.

"Nate…Nate it's ok…we got you, we're coming." Sophie said hoping that her husband could hear her.

"Sophie…" Nate's voice came through the coms. He sounded dazed, probably from whatever Pennington had drugged him with. Then she heard a voice that sent chills down her spine.

"Oh so we are awake are we…" Pennington said not looking back at Nate who was securely bound in the back of his van. "Your precious Sophie is not here, nor is she coming for you. Did you think I didn't know about your team, about what they do, about Hardison…?"

"Lawrence…"

"Well, well the first one to recognise me, or not. When did you figure it out?" Lawrence asked.

"Catherine and Sterling…" Nate told him.

"Ah yes…well clever, clever you."

"Lawrence look, I know what happened to you, I understand…"

"Understand!" Lawrence said icily. "You understand nothing Ford, but you will…you will."

"Nate we are coming…" Sophie told him. "You just have stall him, stall him Nate." Sophie said desperately as they sped along.

"Where are we going?" Nate asked.

"Somewhere quiet, where we can get to know each other again..."

"Lawrence please…"

"Oh really are you going to start begging already." Lawrence said a touch of disappointment in his voice. "I didn't think you would be so easy…"

"Lawrence you don't have to do this…"

Pennington slammed on the breaks of the vehicle. He then turned around and climbed into the back with Nate. He went down on his haunches leaning over the prone and restrained Mastermind.

"Now Mr Ford, I have a lot planned for us and I don't want to get ahead of myself." He said pulling out an object from his waistband. He held the object up and smiled at the Mastermind. "Now I think it is time for you to be quiet for a while, until I can get us organised alright?"

Nate looked up at the man and was about to reply when Pennington's hand shot forward pushing the object against Nate's bare skin. A bolt of electricity shot through the Mastermind causing tremendous pain. He quickly lost consciousness and Pennington pulled his hand away holding up the taser he had used on Nate.

"That's better. Now you be a good boy and when you wake up you will be ready to learn…ready to understand." He said patting Nate's face gently. Then he made his way to the front of the vehicle again and started it moving.

"Nate…Nate…" Sophie cried out but there was no response. "Nate what happened…Nate…"

"We are almost on them…" Hardison told her as his stomach knotted with fear at the lack of response from Nate.

"Hold on Nate…just hold on we're almost there." Sophie whispered.

Pennington pulled the van into the building and stopped. He had already prepared everything for his session with Nate, all he had to do was get the Mastermind out of the vehicle and hoisted up. This he did in short order. He was sure he was safe from any interference from Nate's team. He had planned it meticulously. It had been easy to get Nate into the hearse after incapacitating him and then it was just a matter of traveling along. He had paid the driver a handsome sum for his extra passengers and by the time they had reached the cemetery he had managed to disrobe the Mastermind, leaving him only in his boxers and at the same time removing all of the devices that he had on him, including the earbud. Once at the cemetery, he had quickly transferred Nate into the waiting vehicle, it was the first one in the procession and again he had paid a handsome sum in order for the young man and his friend driving it to make sure he was directly behind the hearse and to make sure that all was in readiness for him to secure the Mastermind in the rear of the van. They had parked it in such a manner that the hearse was hidden from the view of the following cars so that he could transfer the unconscious body into the van without being observed. All had gone without a hitch and now he was ready to make Nathan Ford pay for what he had done.

Nate was suspended by chains from the ceiling, just as the others had been. He was still unconscious from the effects of the powerful taser that had been used on him in the van. Pennington quickly prepared his table of utensils he was going to use on the Mastermind. This would be his piece-de-resistance. He was planning on spending as long as possible with Nate, making him suffer more than he could ever imagine. He walked around the unconscious man his eyes burning with hatred as he contemplated what he should do first. Walking back to the table he picked up a knife, first he had to remove the last bit of clothes Nate had on. He needed the man naked and vulnerable to him. That was when he heard the squealing of tires and a car burst through the door and raced into the building.

Pennington panicked for only a brief moment and then plunged the knife into the thigh of the Mastermind. He did not want to kill him but he wanted to make their decision easy.

"Pennington…" Eliot growled out as he sprang from the car and raced towards the man.

Lawrence Pennington watched him come and then held up the bloody knife.

"Me or him Spenser…it's your call."

Eliot came to a stop as he looked from Pennington to the figure of Nate hanging beside him. He could see blood pouring from a wound in his leg, Pennington had punctured his femoral artery and if something was not done the Mastermind would bleed out within minutes. Eliot made his decision and headed for Nate as Pennington turned and moved towards the exit of the building. Eliot saw Parker start to follow but called out to her to get Nate down. He had removed his shirt and was pressing it against the wound in Nate's leg. Parker hesitated only for a second and then did as she was told.

"Hardison bring the car over here now. We have to get him to a hospital now." Eliot said his voice filled with urgency.

By the time they got to the hospital Nate was almost white in complexion and his breathing was shallow his heartbeat weak and tachycardic. Eliot carried him into the emergency area calling out for assistance as he went. He was covered in Nate's blood and the shirt he had tied around the leg was soaked and dripping with blood. Sophie and the others were right behind him and watched as a doctor and a nurse helped Eliot get Nate onto a gurney and then wheeled the Mastermind away into the treating rooms. They were told to wait and shown where they could take a seat.

"Nothing will happen to me Sophie…" The Grifter mumbled to herself as she sat berating herself for allowing Nate to go to the funeral. "Not with you all watching my back…" She continued recalling the conversation from the previous day. "If you die on me Nathan Ford, so help me…" She threatened the absent man her chest tightening at the mere thought of losing him forever.

It was a few minutes later that Nate was wheeled out of the emergency room. Sophie was immediately by his side asking the doctors what was happening.

"We are taking him to surgery. Somebody will be out to let you know." The nurse said as they entered the elevator and the doors closed.

"Let's go up to the waiting area." Eliot said after asking the nurse on duty where they could wait for news on Nate. He put his hand on Sophie's shoulder and turned her around. "He'll be fine." He said seeing the tears in her eyes and the worry on her face. "Let's go…"

They all made their way up to the surgery waiting area and took their seats.

"Thank the Lord that you gave him that second com…" Eliot said trying to break the tension. "That was inspired…what made you do that?"

"Fear…" Sophie said softly.

The rest of the time was spent in silence. Each of them were busy with their own thoughts, each of them contemplating what could have happened had they not got to Nate when they did. Each of them was also trying to figure out what they were going to do now, how did they protect Nate, not only against Pennington but against himself.

The doctor emerged an hour later to see them, interrupting their reflections.

"Ford family…" The doctor called as he walked into the waiting room.

"Yes." Sophie said. "I'm his wife…how is he?"

"Your husband is fine. He lost a lot of blood but luckily you got him to the hospital in time. We repaired the damage and gave him a transfusion. He is in recovery but will be moved to his room within the next few minutes. He will be out of it for a while and he will have to take it easy on his leg. There was some damage to the tissue around the injury and we will have to keep our eye on that, however I am fairly confident that he should recover fully in time."

"Thank you doctor." Sophie said relief flooding over her.

"If you will wait here a nurse will get you and take you to his room as soon as he has been moved." The doctor said smiling at Sophie.

Twenty minutes later they were gathered in Nate's room. The Mastermind was asleep when they entered. Sophie took her place next his bed taking his hand in hers. He still looked so pale and fragile. Parker and Hardison stood beside each other opposite Sophie and Eliot took up his usual place at the head of the bed.

"What do we do now…how do we make sure this guy does not get to Nate?" Hardison voiced the question on all their minds.

"This was all my fault…" Eliot said. "I should have told him that he was not going to the funeral…I should have insisted." Eliot said. He was the security expert it was his job to keep them safe and he had failed.

"Nobody's fault…" A weak voice come from the bed as Nate opened his eyes and looked straight at the Hitter. "My decision..."

"Nate…" Sophie said leaning in to him and putting her hand on his forehead.

"Soph…" He whispered. "I'm sorry…"

"It's ok Nate…It's ok…you just concentrate on getting better…" She said placing a soft kiss on his lips. He still felt cold to her and she pulled the blankets a little higher before putting her hand on his forehead again. He had fallen back into sleep after his whispered apology to her.

"We can't let Pennington near him again Eliot." She said turning to the Hitter. "He only had him for a few minutes and look at what he did."

"We won't." Eliot told her but in his heart he knew they would not have the ultimate say in the story. Nate would do what he wanted to do no matter what they said and he knew Nate well enough to know that the man would not go into hiding. He would go after Pennington himself and put an end to him but he knew he could not leave them to do that. They had no idea where the man was, and while Eliot hunted him he would be hunting Nate. He was obviously well acquainted with them and how they worked. Eliot doubted that Pennington would strike again here. He did not want Nate dead, or rather he did, but he had specific plans for him and Eliot doubted he would settle for less. No he would wait until there was an opportunity to take the Mastermind again.

"He will come for him again." Parker said. "How do we stop him?"

"I don't know girl but we will…" Hardison said wrapping his arm around the Thief. "I swear we will."

**So Pennington got to Nate despite their best efforts. Will they be able to protect him from the next attempt? What will Nate do? Thank you all so very much for taking the time to review, follow or favourite the story, it really inspires me to carry on writing. **


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

It was early the next morning when Nate next surfaced. He could feel a heavy weight on his arm and lifted his head slightly to see Sophie sleeping her hand tucked in his and her head resting on his arm. Turning his head slightly to the left he saw Parker and Hardison sitting together propped up against the wall and they too were asleep. Then he raised his eyes and looked straight into the eyes of his Hitter. Eliot stood at the foot of the bed his arms folded as he surveyed Nate.

"What happened to your hand?" He asked having noticed the bandage that covered Eliot's hand.

"I had a slight disagreement with a window." Eliot replied. "How you feeling…?"

"My leg is on fire but otherwise fine…" Nate said softly. "I could use some water."

Eliot moved to his bedside pouring him a glass of water then putting a straw into it he held it for the Mastermind to drink.

"Thank you." Nate said after drinking nearly half the glass. "What happened?"

"Pennington put a knife into your thigh, it nicked your femoral artery."

"Pennington…?"

"It was go after him and let you bleed to death or get you to the hospital." Eliot said simply. To him it was a simple choice and he had made the only one he could have.

"So he's still out there." Nate said softly.

"If it wasn't for Sophie making you take that second com…"

"Yeah I know." Nate said. He was grateful for his wife's paranoia, although he had objected at the time he was glad he had given in, if he hadn't…well he would not be lying in this hospital bed, he would be in the morgue.

"Nate…" Sophie said softly lifting her head to find her husband awake. "Oh Nate…" she said standing and leaning over him to place a kiss on his lips. She placed her hand on his forehead and smoothed back his wild curls smiling at him as she pulled away. He looked better. The colour was back in his face and he did not feel so cold to the touch. "You scared the hell out of me."

"I'm sorry Sophie." Nate said lifting his hand and cupping her face gently.

"No you're not." Sophie said moving away from Nate and letting his hand fall onto the bed next to him.

"Sophie…"

"You're not sorry. You wanted Pennington to come for you and he did, and he almost killed you."

"Sophie I did not think he would…"

"You set yourself up as a target Nate. You allowed him to get to you."

"Sophie trust me, the last thing I want is to let this guy get hold of me." Nate said wincing slightly as he tried to settle himself more comfortably.

"Careful Nate…" Sophie said reaching out to help him settle himself.

"Hey man…" Hardison said his voice heavy with sleep as he pushed himself to his feet and made his way to Nate's bedside followed by Parker.

"Parker…Hardison…" Nate said smiling at them.

"Man that was too close…" Hardison said softly. "Too damn close man…"

"Hardison you got any news on Pennington?" Nate asked the Hacker.

"No…nothing. He's off the grid again." Hardison told the Mastermind.

"I thought you could track anybody Hardison…" Nate asked.

"Man that hurts…" Hardison said. "Where he took you there ain't no camera's there and besides I was too busy watching you almost bleed to death to…"

"Ok…ok…sorry …" Nate said holding up his hands. He was suddenly tired again and his leg was hurting. "Look guys I am sorry for putting you through that." He said his eyes raking over all of them and settling on his wife.

"This is not your fault Nate."

"Maybe not but it is my problem."

"Our problem..." Parker corrected him.

"Oh I see the patient is awake." A nurse said as she entered the room. "The doctor will be around for rounds in about an hour. I just need to check your vitals and change your IV." She said as Sophie made room for her to do her job. "Do you need something for the pain?" She asked as she finished checking the readouts on the machines Nate was connected to and changing the now almost empty IV bag for another one. "Ok well everything is looking good. I'll get the pain meds and be back."

The others watched her go and then turned back to Nate. Silence filled the room. Nobody wanted to ask Nate what the plan was because all of them knew they would not like his plan, but none of them had a plan of their own either. The more they thought about it the more they all realised that they were probably not going to see Pennington again until he made another move on Nate and that scared all of them. The nurse returned five minutes later with the drugs for Nate. She gave him the injection and then made sure he was settled back in the bed.

"Is there anything else you need?" She asked once she was done.

"No thank you nurse." Nate said his eyes growing heavy once more as the pain medicine started to kick in.

"Ok well the doctor will be in in a while." She smiled at him and then left.

"So what do we do now?" Parker asked brining everybody back to the question at hand and the spectra of Pennington that hung over them.

"I don't know Parker. There is not much we can do until Pennington makes his next move." Nate said feeling the pull of sleep as the pain meds kicked in.

"No, we need to find him and stop him before he makes his next move." Sophie stated.

"Easier said than done..." Hardison said his tone one of despondency. He was the great Alex Hardison and he could not trace this damn Pennington. Now when the life of a man he respected and admired beyond all others was on the line he had come up short.

"Hardison…" Nate said looking at his Hacker through hooded eyes. "You always come through and you will again…I trust you." He slurred and then his eyes closed as he fell into sleep again.

"He's out again. Must be the meds..." Eliot said watching the Mastermind.

"He's wrong you know. I can't find this guy." Hardison said softly.

"I don't think he meant find him Hardison." Sophie told him taking Nate's limp hand in hers and looking up at the Hacker. "He meant he trusts you to keep him safe, and so do I."

"Well we are vulnerable here." Eliot said still keeping his eyes on Nate.

"What…why?" Parker asked her eyes widening. Surely they were safe in a hospital. They were here with Nate and nobody could get near him without them knowing.

"Look at him Parker. She injected him with something and he's out. Next thing you know a doctor could come in here and tell us they have to take him somewhere for tests, or give him something that…"

"You don't think…" Sophie said suddenly concerned as she watched Nate sleep.

"No…no Sophie I don't think she gave him anything untoward, besides Hardison checked her out last night, she's legit." Eliot said. He had had Hardison go through all the staff that had been assigned to Nate and the nurse had checked out. "I just think the sooner we can get him out of here and somewhere where we control the comings and goings the better for everybody. We need to give Pennington as little to work with as possible.

Two hours later the doctor made his appearance. The others backed away from the bed but refused to leave the room as he examined Nate's wound. The doctor had wanted to insist but Nate, having woken up shortly before, had told him that they could stay.

"Well Mr Ford, it looks good. I would like to keep you here for another day or so and then you can go home."

"No…no doctor I want to go home today. I promise I will be careful and keep the leg still but I want…I need to go home." Nate told the doctor. He had discussed the situation with the others before the doctor arrived and had agreed with Eliot's assessment.

"That is not advisable Mr Ford. May I remind you that you lost a lot of blood and that you still have serious possibilities or infection or reopening the wounds…I cannot allow you to leave the hospital now."

"Look doctor, I thank you for everything you did, for saving my life, but trust me, I will be better off at home, so if you will just sign the papers." Nate told him.

The doctor shook his head looking at Nate and then at the others in the room. He was not sure what was going on but his patient was going to leave whether he liked it or not and he could not stop him.

"Ok…but you will have to keep off that leg for at least at least a week and no pressure on it at all for at least two days."

"I promise." Nate said.

"Also I want to see you back here at the first sign of infection or any extraordinary pain." The doctor continued.

"I promise." Nate repeated.

"Fine. I will sign your discharge papers, but I am going to stipulate that you are leaving AMA..." The doctor told him then he turned and left.

"Do you think this is such a great idea Nate?" Sophie said concerned for him. She realised that what Eliot had said was true, they were vulnerable here. But at the same time she was concerned about the risks he was taking leaving the hospital too early after nearly dying.

"We don't have a choice Sophie." Nate said taking her hand. "Now you want to help me get dressed because I am not leaving this place in this gown." He smiled at her.

"Fine…" Sophie said still unhappy with the situation but realising that Nate had made up his mind. "You all can wait outside." She told the others. Hardison and Parker nodded and made their way out of the room. Eliot lingered.

"You are going to need help to get him dressed." Eliot said lightly ignoring the look on Nate's face. "It's either me or Parker…" He smiled at him.

"Fine…" Nate said pushing himself up in the bed and swinging his legs over the edge.

They were all gathered in Nate's room waiting for the doctor to return with the forms. Parker had secured a wheelchair for Nate after Hardison had had to pry her out of it. Nate smiled at the young woman, it was good to see her being her normal self, even under these circumstances.

"Ok Mr Ford…" the doctor said as he walked back into the room. "Here are the forms." He said handing Nate the forms. "Now Mrs Ford I have noted the medicine regime here for you, you need to make sure that he adheres to taking the antibiotics and other meds as and when stipulated. You will have to change his dressings and make sure that the wound is cleaned regularly. I cannot emphasise enough that he must keep his leg as immobile as possible for the next few days and then only limited movement. You will have to make sure that he receives physical therapy but I will recommend somebody when I see you again in a week, you must bring him back to see me then." He told Sophie.

"Don't worry doctor we will take good care of him." Sophie said taking the medicines from the doctor and thanking him again for all his efforts.

"Ready…" Sophie asked placing her hand on Nate's shoulder.

"Ready…" Nate said. His leg was on fire with all the movement to get him into the chair and dressed. He gritted his teeth against the pain and smiled at her patting her hand gently.

"Good." Eliot said. "Hardison go get the van, pull it around to the front." Eliot instructed the Hacker. "Parker you walk in front. I'll follow."

Hardison quickly made his way out of the hospital. Parker moved forward with Sophie following pushing Nate along. Eliot followed keeping his eyes open for anything untoward. He was sure Pennington would not hit them now but it paid to be safe, especially when dealing with a guy like Pennington.

They were all tense from the time they left the room until they pushed Nate into the penthouse an hour later. Eliot had made sure that he drove as slowly and as carefully as he could. He could see the sweat start to accumulate on Nate's forehead and he could see the Mastermind was in pain. Nate did not complain, not once as he lifted him out of the van and into the wheelchair. Getting Nate into the penthouse he immediately lifted him out and placed him into the bed. By this time Nate was drenched with sweat at his efforts. Sophie gave him the pain medication and sat with him until he finally drifted off to sleep. Then she made sure that he was comfortable before leaving and closing the door behind her.

"He's asleep." She told them smiling at Eliot as he handed her a glass of wine.

"He didn't look to well." Parker said pouting slightly, she was worried about Nate.

"He's fine Parker, just tired and sore." Sophie told her.

"I have camera's everywhere. If Pennington comes anywhere near here we will see him." Hardison said getting straight to the subject of Nate's safety. "I also have pressure pads on all the windows and mags on all the doors leading to or from this penthouse. I have anti-bugging devices set up so there is no way he is listening in. Add to that the elevator is now under my control, nobody moves it without a code. Parker placed beams in the elevator shaft and on the roof. We are covered."

"Ok…I'll be back." Eliot said after hearing of all the measures that were in place. He felt confident that he could leave and they would be safe until he returned.

"And where are you going?" Sophie asked watching the Hitter put his jacket on.

"I have some people to see." Eliot said softly. "Sophie…please just make sure that nobody leaves the room, I won't be longer than an hour or two."

Sophie looked up at the Hitter. She wanted to know where he was going and what he was going to do, but she refrained from asking. Whatever it was it was to help Nate of that she was sure. She was afraid for him as much as for Nate but she knew she could not stop him, Eliot was essentially as stubborn as Nate.

"Just promise me you will be careful." Sophie said.

"I'll be back in two hours." Eliot said not making any promises. "Hardison, Parker you keep them both safe."

"We will." Hardison said. Parker did not respond she just looked at the Hitter and nodded.

"Good." Eliot said. Picking up the keys to the van he made his way to the elevator. Entering he turned to face his family who all watched him until the doors closed in front of him. "Take care of yourselves…" He whispered as he pressed the 'G' and felt the elevator start to descend.

**Where is Eliot going and what is he going to do? Will all of Hardison's precautions be enough to keep Nate safe? Where is Pennington and what is he planning…? Thanks again for all the reviews they are greatly appreciated.**


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Eliot stopped the van outside a dilapidated building. The sign advertised a pub and pool bar being inside. Exiting the van Eliot made for the door. Pulling it opened he entered walking directly to the bar and ordering a whiskey.

"Haven't seen you for a few years." The barman said as he delivered the drink.

"Been busy..." Eliot replied taking the drink and downing it before putting the glass down to be refilled. "Kahn around…?"

"I don't think he wants to see you…you know after last time." The barman said.

"That was a just business…" Eliot said.

"I don't think he saw it that way…he was in hospital for a week."

"I need to see him." Eliot said finishing off his second glass. "Is he around?"

"You didn't get this from me…" The barman said handing Eliot a slip of paper. "He'll kill me…"

"Thanks." Eliot said standing back from the bar.

"Watch yourself Spencer, he'll kill you too."

Eliot did not answer him, he just turned and walked out of the bar without even looking at the paper. He knew the man had given him the Kahn's address. He drove swiftly to his next destination. He knew that the man he was going to see was not going to be happy to see him. They had had a slight altercation on their previous encounter, one in which Eliot had almost killed the man. He had had good reason to though. Kahn had betrayed him, almost cost him his life. That was unacceptable and Eliot had made him understand that. He arrived and turned the van off. He sat looking at the house he was outside. It was more like a mansion with high walls surrounding it and a large black fence baring entry. Kahn had done well for himself in his chosen profession of that there was no doubt. Eliot exited the van and made his way to the far side of the house. He quickly scaled the wall and dropped down into the garden. He kept low using the foliage as cover as he made his way closer to the building. He took a moment to note all the camera's that were around and the guards who patrolled the building. He quickly and silently eliminated the first guard letting his unconscious body slip to the ground before making his way to the back of the building. There he tested the door finding it unlocked. He opened the door quietly and slipped into the building making sure he kept himself low and out of the sight of the camera. As he made to exit the room another guard came round the corner. Eliot quickly silenced him and dragged his body into the kitchen hiding it as best he could. He was not sure where Kahn would be but he assumed that the voices he heard emanating from the study would be his and his visitor. He was not sure who was there but he was prepared for anyone. Moving quickly he found himself in front of the study doors which were closed. He could now hear the voices clearly and was sure that Kahn was inside. He drew himself up and taking the handles of the double doors threw them open.

There were four people in the room. Kahn the man Eliot had come to see was standing at the window, a second man was seated before a large wooden desk in the front of the room and two heavily armed men stood just inside the door. Eliot moved with lightning speed incapacitating the man on his left and then felt a heavy blow to his middle and then two large arms wrapped around him preventing all movement. He saw the man at the desk rise and raise his weapon pointing it at Eliot and his attacker. Eliot swung around taking the man who was holding him with him. He felt the impact of the bullet as it struck the man behind him and then he felt his weight leave him as he fell to the ground a bullet through his back. Eliot did not stop his movement, he swung around and moved forward at the same time. A second shot rang out and Eliot felt his side burn as the bullet cut a deep groove into his side tearing his shirt. Before the man could depress the trigger for the third time Eliot was on him disarming him and rendering him unconscious. Eliot came to a halt standing upright and facing the man he had come to see his arm extended and pointing the unconscious man's gun at him. He cocked the gun and smiled at Kahn as the doorway filled with guards who had arrived after the commotion and gun shots drew them. Eliot tilted his head slightly keeping his eyes locked on Kahn.

Kahn held up his hand stopping the men from entering further nodding to their leader who indicated that the rest should move back.

"Eliot Spencer…" Kahn said turning his eyes back to Eliot.

"Kahn." Eliot said keeping the gun locked on the man.

"Are you here to kill me?" He asked.

"No. Can we talk?" Eliot replied the gun not wavering.

Kahn stared at Eliot for a few seconds and then told him men to retreat taking the unconscious ones with them and close the door. Once they were done and it was only Eliot and Kahn in the room, Eliot emptied the chamber of the gun and put it down on the desk.

"Whiskey…?" Kahn asked as he poured himself a glass from the wet bar next to him.

"I need information." Eliot said sitting down as Kahn delivered his whiskey and then took a seat opposite him.

"I spent a week in hospital Spencer. You nearly killed me."

"I could say the same for you." Eliot replied.

Kahn smiled at the Hitter. "I had no choice."

"There is always a choice, but I did give you credit for the fact that you gave me up under duress."

"You did?"

"You're not dead are you?"

Kahn smiled and raised his glass to the Hitter before taking a sip.

"What information?"

"You made some…tools of the trade for somebody. I want to know where that somebody is."

"The same offence you almost killed me for?" Kahn asked sitting back and lighting a cigar as he spoke.

"This is not one from the trade. He is an outsider, somebody who is not a professional, you owe him no allegiance."

"I owe all my customers allegiance, and you have not been a customer of mine for a very long time Spencer." Kahn said sipping his drink. "In fact I heard you were out of the business completely."

"His name is Lawrence Pennington."

"How do you know I supplied him, there are many suppliers."

"I recognised the work." Eliot replied.

"I'm flattered." Kahn said. "Although you were a very good customer at one time..."

"I need to know where I can find him." Eliot said.

"Spencer, I don't know where my clients reside, I don't know what they are doing with my tools."

"He's going to need new ones." Eliot told the man. "Has he contacted you?"

"No." Kahn answered.

"You will let me know when he does."

"If he does…"

"He will." Eliot said placing a piece of paper on the desk. "My number..."

"It has not been a pleasure seeing you again Spencer." Kahn said rising as Eliot did. "But I will let you know if this man contacts me, you have my word, for old times' sake."

"Thank you Kahn." Eliot said downing the last part of his drink and then smiling at the man. "Do I need to take out the rest of you men or…"

Kahn laughed and called the head of his security in. He told him to see Eliot out and that he was not to be touched. Eliot nodded his head at Kahn and then left. He was taken down to the gate and allowed to pass out. Making his way to the van he climbed in and sighed heavily. Hopefully they would hear from Kahn soon and this could all come to an end, before Nate got himself killed.

Two hours later Eliot walked back into the penthouse they were all staying at to be met by three anxious people who had obviously been waiting for him to return.

"Eliot you are hurt." Sophie said as he walked in. "Parker get the medical kit."

"It's fine Sophie, just a graze." Eliot said pulling his jacket off and wincing slightly as he did.

"And some broken ribs…" Sophie said seeing the wince. "Where were you?" She asked sitting the Hitter down and helping him remove his shirt revealing the bruises on his body and the deep gouge left by the bullet. "Eliot…?"

"I went to see an old acquaintance."

"Well he wasn't too happy to see you I take it." Hardison said surveying the Hitter.

"How is Nate?"

"Still sleeping…now talk Eliot..." Sophie said starting to clean the wound.

"The tools Pennington were using for the torture. I recognised the maker." Eliot told them. "I went to see said maker."

"You recognised the tools…?" Hardison said. They were in the place for only a few minutes and Eliot's time was taken up with Nate.

"They were very distinctive tools Hardison." Eliot said hissed out as Sophie started to sew up the wound.

"Did he know Pennington?" Parker asked. She like the rest of them was not sure how Eliot would recognise tools of torture, from using them or them being used on him, it didn't really matter though and she was not going to ask.

"Yes he did. He sold him the tools."

"Did he know where he is…?" Hardison asked his hopes rising at the first solid lead on Pennington that they had since this all started.

"No, but Pennington left his kit. He's going to need a new one." Eliot said meaningfully.

"You think he will go back to this guy?"

"He'll go back." Eliot said confidently.

"Your friend…he'll let us know if Pennington contacts him?" Sophie asked.

"Yes he will." Eliot confirmed. "So we wait. Pennington has to get himself set up again. He won't strike until he knows he has somewhere to take Nate and he has a full kit back. He won't strike again until he is ready."

"Ok well why don't you go get cleaned up." Sophie said as she finished up with his running repairs. "Parker, Hardison you two organise us some food. I need to make sure Nate is ok and give him his meds."

Sophie walked into Nate's room and stood for a second watching the man sleep. At least they had something to work with now she thought as she watched him. She walked to Nate's bed and sat down beside him running her hand through his hair gently. He stirred under her touch and opened his eyes.

"Sophie…" He whispered as he tried to sit up.

"Shh Nate, everything is ok…" She said helping him sit a bit higher in the bed. "You have to take your meds." She said holding out his pills and a glass of water.

"Thanks…"

"Now you just lie down Mister. You are not getting out of this bed for the next two days at least and that is an order." She said helping him move back down the bed and bending down to plant a lingering kiss on his lips.

"Sophie I have to…"

"You have to heal Nate. You have to let us take care of you. You have to take care of yourself and that is all you have to do for the next two days minimum. Do we understand each other?"

"When did you become so bossy…?" He smiled at her. He was still exhausted and he could feel his eyes growing heavy again. His leg hurt like hell but he knew the pain medication Sophie had just given him would kick in soon.

"I am not going to lose you Nate, you owe me…"

"Owe you…?" He asked sleepily.

"Yes…you owe me. You owe me the lifetime of happiness with you that you promised me and I am going to hold you to that promise." She told him softly.

"I love you Sophie…" He said as he drifted back into sleep.

Sophie smiled at him and bent down to give him another kiss. "I love you Nate, so very much…" She said. Sophie sat beside him holding his hand and gently stroking his hair until she was sure he was again fast asleep. Then she placed another kiss to his forehead before leaving to join the others.

**So now they have something on Pennington, but will he go back to Kahn for new equipment? Will Kahn let Eliot know if he does? How long will Pennington wait before he tries to take Nate again and will the team be able to stop him the next time? Thank you all again so much for taking the time to review, I love all of your feedback on the story.**


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

"How is he doing?" Eliot asked as Sophie walked out of the room closing the door behind her.

"Still pretty much out of it." Sophie told him. "How are you doing?"

"I'm fine Sophie. Listen…" Eliot said dropping his voice slightly. "Nate doesn't need to know…"

"That you got hurt. Yes I agree." Sophie said. If Nate heard that Eliot got hurt or any one of them got hurt because of Pennington trying to get him then who knows what he would do. They did dangerous jobs and Eliot's was more dangerous than most, but getting hurt on a job Nate would find hard to deal with, getting hurt because of Nate…well that he would not handle at all.

"Dinner is here…" Hardison said as he and Parker walked out of the elevator carrying a couple of boxes of pizza.

While Parker and Eliot got plates and serviettes out Hardison checked his computers for any sign of well anything. But all was quiet with no sign of Pennington or anybody trying to get into the building. Halfway through their meal Eliot's phone rang. All of them looked up at him and watched closely as he answered.

"Kahn…" He said in greeting.

"Spencer. Your friend paid me a visit. He has his new kit." Kahn said told the Hitter.

"What you said you would call dammit…" Eliot hissed then drew in a breath calming himself down. "Do you know where I can find him?" Eliot asked although he already knew the answer.

"No. I am not sure I would tell you if I did. I promised you to let you know if he called on me. He did." Kahn said.

Eliot put his mobile down and looked at the group who stared back at him expectantly.

"Pennington has his new kit." He told them.

Eliot was disappointed, he had hoped that Pennington would phone the man before going there, giving them time to be there when he arrived. He sighed heavily realising that Kahn had played him. Pennington must have already ordered a new kit from Kahn before Eliot had been to see him. The information was relevant, in that at least they knew Pennington was well on his way to preparing to take Nate again, but it got them nowhere in finding the man.

"So he will be coming for Nate…" Sophie said suddenly not at all hungry as she glanced towards the door behind which Nate slept.

"I don't think so, not right away. He will still need to set up a place to take Nate and he will wait until Nate is good and ready to..."

"To what…?" Parker asked as Eliot paused.

"To endure his particular brand of torture..." Eliot finished. "I figure he will know what damage he did and how long it will take Nate to recover enough for him to want to take him again."

"So he is going to wait for Nate to get strong enough for him to torture him thoroughly." Parker asked.

"Exactly...He want's Nate to suffer. He is not just out to kill him." Eliot said.

On that note silence fell over the group. The next few days were spent just hanging around the penthouse, Hardison and Parker were sent out to get supplies but Eliot and Sophie remained at Nate's side. The man himself was recovering well and was starting to walk, all be it tentatively around the penthouse and by the end of the week he was starting to go stir crazy.

Seven days after they had brought Nate back to the penthouse they were ready to take him back to the hospital for his check-up. Eliot had taken all the precautions he could and as they entered the elevator he took a deep breath. He hoped the visit would go without a hitch but he knew Pennington was out there and that he was probably about ready to try for another snatch. Tensions were running high and everybody was on high alert. Hardison had been sent down to the basement to pull the van to the front of the elevators so that Nate would be exposed as little as possible when exiting the building. Parker had done a sweep of the building and the surrounds the morning and had given the all clear as well. They rode the elevator in silence. Sophie jumped slightly at the 'ting' the elevator made indicating they had reached their destination. Nate could feel her anxiety and took her hand squeezing it lightly. Eliot exited and made his way to the van opening the back door ready to receive Nate. Parker stood to the one side and Hardison to the other like an honour guard as Sophie helped Nate walk the short distance to the van. Eliot climbed into the drivers' seat ready to set off as soon as all of them were inside. Just as Nate was being helped into the van, without warning, Parker dropped silently to the ground.

"Parker…" Nate cried out seeing the little Thief drop. He ignored the searing pain in his leg as he climbed out of the van almost falling as he put full weight on his injured leg, he moved swiftly to her side dropping to the ground next to her. He could see that she had been hit by a bullet which had pierced her chest. "Parker…" He said again but got no response.

"Get in the van Nate…" Eliot said as he came around the front of the vehicle at full speed. He immediately saw the bullet wound, but he had not heard a shot, which meant a silencer. Nate looked up at the Hitter as he moved to Parker side. He quickly felt for a pulse and checked the wound.

"It's not bad…get in the van now!" He said looking at Sophie to get the Mastermind up and into the van again. Eliot bent down and lifted the unconscious Thief up and laid her in the back of the van as Hardison climbed in beside her gripping her hand.

"Just hold on girl…you gonna be ok…just hold on…" Hardison told the Thief.

Eliot pulled out of the parking and headed at full speed towards the hospital. Once there, the doctors took Parker into the emergency room telling them all to wait outside. Nate was again wet with perspiration from his efforts and Eliot could see he was also in severe pain. The Hitter walked to the nurses' station and told them to get Nate's doctor there. Then he returned to stand beside the Mastermind as they waited. Nate's doctor arrived a few minutes later but Nate was adamant he was not leaving the ER until he knew what was going on with Parker. The doctor looked at the Mastermind and then quickly slipped into the room they had taken the Thief into. He came out a few minutes later.

"Your friend received a gunshot wound to the chest area. It appears though that the bullet passed right through and missed all the major organs and arteries. They are prepping her for surgery now. I promise you I will keep you apprised of her progress but we need to take a look at you alright."

"Nate please…" Sophie asked softly. Nate nodded and immediately the doctor had a nurse help him onto a gurney and then wheeled him into of the vacant ER exam rooms. Sophie was about to follow but Nate looked at her and shook his head.

"Stay here and make sure Parker is alright." He told her as the doors closed behind him.

"Why did he shoot Parker…?" Sophie asked not quite understanding what exactly had happened. Pennington if it was him did not hit the Thief accidently while trying to get Nate. Nate was already in the van when the shot was fired. Why if this was meant to be a diversion had he not tried to grab Nate in the chaos following the shooting?

"I don't know Sophie, but if I had to hazard a guess it would be that he want's Nate to understand that if he hides behind us we are going to get hurt. Like we said Sophie, he's studied Nate, he knows him. What do you think his reaction is going to be to this?"

Sophie remained silent. She knew exactly what Nate's reaction was going to be and so did Eliot.

"How did he get access…?" Hardison asked more himself than anything else. "The alarms should have gone off…"

"Why?" Eliot aske the Hacker and Hardison jerked his head up to stare at the Hitter as if he had asked a ridiculous question. "Why Hardison, the basement is a public parking, people coming and going all the time. Yes it's more secure than outside but man, you could not have seen this coming, none of us could have."

"My camera's…"

"Could have picked him up but facial recognition takes a while to kick in and besides he could have obscured his face. Hardison…" Eliot said drawing the Hacker's eyes to his again. "This is not your fault."

"No it's mine…" Nate's voice interrupted them.

"Nate…" Sophie said as he approached being wheeled in by the doctor.

"Parker…?" Nate asked before Sophie could say any more.

"She is still in surgery Nate." Sophie said then looked up at the doctor a question in her eyes.

"He did some damage to the muscle and I am sure the surrounding tissue. I would say that he should remain here but he has already told me that was not going to happen. He must stay off the leg Mrs Ford or he could do permanent damage to it if he does not." The doctor told her.

Before Sophie or any of them could say anything Parkers doctor walked over to them.

"How is she…?" Hardison asked immediately.

"She is fine. As we suspected the bullet passed directly through without causing any major damage. She is being moved into her room now, you can see her directly afterwards." The doctor said. "She is asking for you Mr Ford."

"Thank you doctor…" Sophie said.

"The nurse will take you through to her room." He said then turned to get back to his duties.

"Dr Albright…"

"Please go. I will get the nurse to bring the medication and instructions later." The doctor said seeing the anxiousness on all their faces and knowing they wanted to go and see their friend.

They followed the nurse to the room Parker had been place in finding her awake and asking for Nate again, almost insisting she had to get to the Mastermind. Sophie pushed the chair into the room and up to the side of Parkers bed.

"Parker I'm sorry…" Nate said his blue eyes awash with unshed tears. This girl, this woman had come to mean so much to him. She was like a daughter to him although he would never admit it.

"It's not your fault Nate and I'm fine." Parker said. "How are you?" She asked noting that he was back in a wheelchair.

"Don't worry about me Parker. Just worry about getting better." Nate instructed her.

"Hey girl…" Hardison said moving to the side of her bed opposite Nate. "You scared me…"

"I'm fine Hardison really I am..." Parker told him.

Nate watched as his family gathered around the woman's bed cajoling and joking with her. This was his fault. Parker was in a hospital bed after being shot and it was his fault. When he had seen her fall he had been sure she was dead. He had felt that same pain as he had when his son had died, a pain he never wanted again. But she wasn't dead. In fact the injury, although serious was not life threatening at all. This was a warning. A warning to him from Pennington of that he was sure. He was letting Nate know that if they kept him wrapped up he would have to go through them to get to him. It also told Nate that he had no intention of doing any harm to his family if he did not have to. Next time it may be any one of them, it may be Sophie and next time he may not be so careful. A shiver ran down Nate's spine at that thought. The thought of him being the reason for Sophie to be hurt, killed even was not acceptable.

"The doctor said I could be discharged tomorrow." Parker told them.

"That's great girl…" Hardison said happily.

"I know what you are thinking Nate…" A low voice said over his shoulder. Eliot stood behind him leaning down so that he could speak without being heard. "It ain't going to happen."

Nate did not answer the Hitter he merely kept his eyes on the young woman in the bed and occasionally looked at his wife who stood by her bedside.

"Well Hardison you can stay here with Parker tonight, but I think it is time we got Nate back to the penthouse and back into bed." Sophie said turning to her husband.

"No Eliot should stay with her…I…"

"He is not after Parker, or Hardison or any of us, he is after you. Parker will be fine here with Hardison. You are going back to the Penthouse." Sophie interrupted him her voice firm. "This was just…"

"A warning…" Nate finished for her. "A warning that if I am going to use you to hide behind, he is going to tear you all down to get to me."

"Nate…"

"Do you think it was just luck that the bullet did no real harm…?" Nate asked looking to Eliot. "Was it just luck? I don't think so." Nate continued shaking his head. "No, he is telling me that he can if he has to and he will."

"So now what you just want to walk out there and say here I am come and get me?" Sophie asked her eyes tearing up but in anger more than anything else. "Is that what you want to do?"

"Look at it this way Nate. He is getting frustrated. He is getting frustrated and he will make a mistake because of that." Eliot said trying to put a positive spin on what had gone down.

"Really…" Nate said lifting his eyebrows at his Hitter. "That is what you are going with? Parker was shot Eliot, she could have died…"

"But I didn't." Parker interjected. She was not at all concerned about herself. She could read Nate as well as anybody in the team by now and she could see where his thoughts were going. "I am fine Nate. He showed his hand, we know what to expect now and he will make a mistake." She told the Mastermind.

"But until then you are all in danger if you all keep playing secret service agents and keep shielding me like…like I am…like…" Nate stumbled unable to find the right words.

"Like you are family and mean a lot to all of us?" Hardison supplied for him. Yes Parker had been shot. Yes he could have been shot and maybe this was going to end badly for all of them. The fact was that any one of them would give their lives for Nate just as he would for them.

"Look I'm tired…" Nate said not wanting to discuss the matter anymore. He did not need them to tell him that they would die for him, he knew it. Any one of them would be happy to stand between him and Pennington. The fact was that he was not willing to let them. "Let's just go back to the penthouse alright." Nate said. "Parker you look after yourself and remember you have just been shot in the chest…you are not alright, you need to rest and recover do you hear me."

"I hear you Nate…" Parker said.

"Hardison you make sure she takes it easy and gets some sleep." Nate then instructed turning to his Hacker. The man nodded at the Mastermind and squeezed Parkers hand a little tighter.

"Ok…" Nate sighed. "Let's go."

Eliot looked at Sophie who nodded her head slightly. Eliot took the handles of the chair and pushed Nate out the door and towards the entrance of the hospital. He was nervous as he had ever been in his life and he would be until he had Nate back safely ensconced in the penthouse where Hardison's gadgets would protect him.

Once they were safely back they helped Nate back into his bed and Eliot left Sophie alone with him as he went on to make sure that all of the security was in place and there was no imminent danger to any of them. Sophie gave him the medication the doctor had supplied and then checked the dressing on his wound. Then she made him comfortable and sat with him until his breathing became regular and steady, indicating he was asleep. Kissing him gently on the forehead she stood and left to join Eliot in the main living area of the penthouse.

"You know what he is planning to do right?" Eliot said as she exited the room.

"I know what he wants to do." Sophie acknowledged.

"Hardison said Parker is sleeping. He'll let us know when she is released tomorrow." Eliot said handing Sophie a glass of wine. "You hungry…?"

"A little…" Sophie admitted. It had been a long day even though it was only late afternoon, she was exhausted, emotionally and physically.

"Why don't you go take a shower and I'll get some food together." Eliot said smiling at the Grifter.

An hour later found Sophie and Eliot having a meal of pasta and sauce at the table as they discussed how they were going to stop Nate from being an idiot. Neither one of them believed that Nate would be able to get away from them. He was too weak to run and his leg would not allow good movement, if he did try they were sure they could stop him. Finally they said goodnight and Eliot went to his room while Sophie climbed into the bed beside her husband who was still fast asleep. She cuddled behind him draping her arm over him.

"I love you Nathan Ford and we will get through this, together, all of us." She whispered softly. A few minutes later Sophie was sound asleep and the penthouse was bathed in silence.

Nate lay listening to Sophie's breathing for a long time. He thought about what had happened that day. Parker had been shot, but it could just as well have been Sophie or any one of the others. Pennington would keep coming. Parker was right, he was frustrated. He had taken the others easily but they had not had a team of a Hitter, Hacker, Thief and Grifter watching over them. Pennington had probably realised that he was not going to get another chance at taking him because his team would not allow it. That meant getting rid of the team. The fact that he had not killed Parker told him that the man was not an outright killer. He only wanted him, just as he had only taken the others and not injured their families. However Nate was sure that if he was pushed he would do whatever he had to, to get him. That meant that he could cost one of his team their lives and that he was not willing to do under any circumstances. Nate tentatively moved his leg and immediately felt a twinge of pain. He was sure Pennington was watching the building, waiting for him to make an appearance. He knew him that was sure, he knew he would never allow his team to take the risks they were willing to take now that he knew what Pennington was willing to do to get to him. Slowly he moved himself to the edge of the bed and sat up. Sophie groaned slightly and turned over but remained asleep. Nate forced himself into a standing position wincing in pain as he put weight onto the leg. He bit his lip and moved slowly to the cupboard, taking out a pair of jeans and a shirt. With great effort he dressed himself, a thin sheen of sweat gathering on his forehead with the effort. Opening the door slowly and quietly he made his way out of the room closing the door behind him. He almost expected Eliot's voice to stop him as he made his way to the door indicating the escape stairs. Quickly he locked the door and dropped the keys into his pocket. Then he made his way to the elevator and punching in the code the doors opened allowing him to enter. Entering the elevator he turned and pressed the button which would send the elevator down to the ground. As the doors started closing he heard Eliot shout out at him. He caught a glimpse of the Hitter's face and mouthed the words 'I'm sorry' before the doors closed.

"Dammit…" Eliot shouted slamming his hand into the closed doors. He turned and ran to the emergency escape stairs and pushed on the door. It did not budge.

"Eliot what…" Sophie said stumbling out of the room her eyes wild with fear.

"He's gone damn him…" Eliot said slamming himself into the solid door which did not give an inch at his efforts.

Sophie went to the elevator and pressed the button repeatedly. The reading on the top of the elevator indicated that Nate had reached the ground floor. Sophie pressed the button again trying to get the elevator back to the top as soon as possible as Eliot continued to pound on the door to the stairs.

"He locked the damn door…" Eliot said breathlessly. His efforts appeared useless as the door had not budged.

"Come on…come on…" Sophie said pressing the buttons again. The elevator however remained stationary on the ground floor.

"He's blocked the damn thing…Damn him…" Eliot hissed out his frustration building with each minute that passed.

Picking up his phone he called down to the lobby of the hotel they were staying in. He demanded that the man on the end of the phone go and see what was wrong with the elevator right then. He agreed and within a minute or two the elevator was back on its way up to the penthouse.

"Mr Spencer I am sorry somebody placed this in front of the door preventing it from closing." The doorman said as the elevator doors opened.

Eliot ignored him and he and Sophie stepped into the elevator and sent it on its way back down to the ground floor.

"Did Mr Ford pass you?" Eliot asked the man.

"Yes…I…I called him a cab." He said. He could see that Eliot was furious and he was a little afraid of the man.

"Which cab company…" Eliot asked him then when he did not answer quickly enough Eliot turned to him and grabbed him by his shoulders. "What company…" He growled.

"I..I…a yellow cab…" He stuttered out.

Eliot nodded and pulled out his phone dialling Hardison's number.

"Eliot…what's…what's wrong…?" Hardison asked coming out of sleep.

"You need to hack the database of the Yellow Cab company find out which one picked Nate up outside the hotel and where they are going…"

"What…Nate…"

"Dammit Hardison NOW!" Eliot said.

"Right…right…" Hardison said getting out his phone and getting to work.

"What's going on…" Parker asked also now awake and seeing Hardison in panic and working furiously on his phone. "Pennington…?"

"Eliot I got the cab, his destination is…Evergreen Memorial Cemetery…" Hardison told him. As he had finished speaking he heard Eliot's phone click off and stared at his own for a minute.

"Hardison…" Parker said loudly now out of bed and standing beside the Hacker.

"I don't know Parker…" Hardison said still confused about what was going on but assuming that Nate had left. "You need to get back into bed woman…" He said suddenly aware that parker was moving to the cupboard to get clothes out.

"Where are we going…" Parker asked as she quickly put on her clothes. "Hardison…where are we going…?"

"Evergreen Cemetery…" Hardison said as Parker grabbed his hand and started out the hospital.

They made it to the parking lot where Parker quickly opened up one of the cars and started it then set off in the direction of the cemetery. At the hotel Eliot grabbed Sophie and they ran to the parking lot getting into the van and Eliot floored the accelerator setting off towards the same cemetery.

"I'm going to kill him myself." Eliot mumbled under his breath as they sped towards their destination.

**So Nate decided to go it alone to keep his family safe rom Pennington. Will Pennington get to him before the team? If he does will the team ever see him alive again? Thanks you all so very much for the reviews and I know I keep repeating that but I really appreciate them, each and every one.**


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

The cab pulled up at the place Nate had indicated. The driver turned around and looked at his passenger who was sweating profusely and looked a little pale.

"Mister I think I should take you to a hospital or something." He said.

"No…no I'm fine thanks." Nate said opening the door and climbing out with great effort. He moved to the window of the driver and handed him a note.

"I can wait." The driver said. "This is not a place to be at this time of the night and like I said, you don't look so good."

"No really…I'll be fine thanks." Nate said smiling at the man. He shrugged his shoulders, if the guy didn't want help…well so be it. The driver pulled away telling his control that he was done with the fare.

Nate watched the cab drive away and then turned and painfully and slowly he made his way along the path until he came to a small gravestone. Lowering himself down onto the opposite stone he sighed with relief as he relieved the pressure on his leg.

"Hello Sam." Nate said looking at the cold grey headstone with the name of his son etched on it. Nate sat staring at the grave stone his eyes swimming in tears, not only for his son, but for his family. He knew that Sophie and Eliot would be frantic by now trying to get out of the penthouse, trying to find out where he had gone and trying to get to him. He knew this and his heart broke at the knowledge. He knew he would not slow them down long, but he also hoped it would be long enough to do what he had to do. Pennington wanted him and if this was to be over, he had to give himself to the man. He knew they would think him a fool, that he was being a martyr but better that than Pennington out there taking another shot at any of them. He could not allow that and no matter what happened from now on he knew he had done the right thing.

Nate felt Pennington's presence and before he had a chance to turn around to face his adversary, he felt a jab in his upper arm and immediately felt the effects of the drug. "You didn't have….to..." He tried to say but then blackness engulfed him.

Pennington watched as Nate hobbled to the grave of his son and he watched as the Mastermind sat down carefully. He could see the man was in pain from his leg and smiled to himself. He moved closer slowly, making sure not to disturb the man like a lion stalking his prey. Then he moved in swiftly jabbing the syringe into the Masterminds arm and depressing it sending the drug into his system. He heard Nate try to tell him he did not have to use the drug but before he could finish his sentence he collapsed falling headfirst onto the ground. Pennington surveyed the prone man lying on the grave of his son and smiled to himself in satisfaction.

"So what kind of devices do you have on this time Ford…?" He asked getting to work removing Nate's clothing and checking for coms, this time in both ears. Once he was sure the man had nothing on him that they could trace he lifted the unconscious body and walked towards his vehicle that was parked a little way away. He whistled happily as he went content in the knowledge that he had the Mastermind to himself and that he would soon be inflicting pain and retribution on the man.

The two cars converged simultaneously about twenty minutes after Pennington had left with his prize. Sophie almost fell out of the van as Eliot pulled up running towards where she knew Nate had gone. As soon as she had heard where the cab was taking him she knew he was going to his son's grave. The rest scrambled out of the car running after her. Sophie pulled up as she approached the headstone. There in a neat bundle at the base of the headstone was a pile of clothing and she knew it was Nate's.

"Hardison…" Sophie asked plaintively.

"Nothing, the only signals are from the ones that are here, including the coms." Hardison replied.

"Damn him for a bloody fool…what the hell is he thinking…does he know what this guy…why does he always have to be a self-sacrificing idiot?" Eliot ranted.

"Ok…ok…" Parker said trying to catch her breath from the running, she felt light headed and she knew she had torn some of her stitches.

"Parker…" Hardison called out catching the Thief as she fell and steadying her. "Parker…"

"I'm alright, just dizzy…"

Eliot looked at her with concern taking note of the blood that was staining the front of her shirt.

"Sit down Parker…" Eliot said stepping forward to help her.

"No Eliot, we don't have time." Parker said her eyes wide.

"Parker, we don't…we've got nowhere to go." Eliot said softly. They did not know where Pennington had taken Nate, no idea at all and no way of finding out. Nate was gone, the next time they saw him would be in the morgue. His main priority now was Parker and she was not looking good at all.

Sophie sat on the ground where Nate had laid after being knocked out by Pennington, she was holding on to his clothes and staring at Sam Ford's tombstone. She was numb. She heard Parker fighting with the two men telling them that they had to find Nate that she was fine and they had to find Nate…she heard her repeat it over and over and as she listened she felt hot tears stinging her eyes. She heard Eliot tell her that they had no way of finding him, that she had to calm down and let them help her. She stared at the headstone as the now unchecked tears rolled down her face. This was where his journey to them had started. This was where he had become the Nate they knew and not the one that would never have been one of them. This was his beginning…and this is where he had come just before he knew he was going to his end. Suddenly Sophie's eyes grew wide and she scrambled up of the ground and turned to the other three.

"Hardison…" Sophie said and the urgency in her voice brought all of them to attention. "Where did they do the deal…where did they catch Pennington the first time?"

"What…I don't…" Hardison said then seeing the look in Sophie's eyes he pulled out his phone and quickly checked the information for her.

"That's it. That is where he will take Nate, to complete the circle…"

Eliot stared at the Grifter and then nodded. He turned and lifted a protesting Parker into this arms he started running for the car followed by Hardison and Sophie. He decided to take the stolen car that Parker and Hardison had arrived in, it would be quicker than the van and time was now of the essence. If Sophie was right and this is where Pennington had taken Nate, then they had to get there before Pennington did too much damage to the Mastermind. Pennington had a good lead on them, but he knew that Pennington wanted to torture Nate slowly, so his only hope was that that Nate was at least still alive when they arrived.

Eliot sped at break neck speeds through the streets of the town following the directions Hardison was calling out to him. Sophie sat in the back with Parker, the Thief was now as white as a sheet and the front of her shirt was beginning to soak through with blood. It took Eliot less than ten minutes to reach their destination. It was in an industrial part of the town and the building they pulled up in front of appeared abandoned, although twenty years ago it had been a busy and thriving art gallery. Now it was derelict, standing amongst other derelict buildings and the area was deserted. It was perfect for Pennington's needs. Eliot turned off the cars lights and drove slowly to the entrance of the building. Bursting in was not going to do them any good. This time Pennington may well kill Nate if they interrupted him. They needed to be sure he was here and they needed to take him by complete surprise giving him no opportunity to injure Nate further before they could get to him.

"Parker…"

"I'm going with you." Parker said before he could tell her to stay in the car. Eliot just shook his head but did not argue, it would have done no good anyway by the look on her face.

Quietly the crept to the door of the building, there was no sign of Pennington's car but that did not mean he was not inside. Eliot tested the handle and the door opened slightly. It was dark inside with no sign of life and Eliot's heart dropped. He stood up and opened the door fully peering inside and trying to see through the darkness.

"Eliot…?" Sophie asked wondering why the Hitter was hesitating.

"There is nobody here Sophie." Eliot said. "Maybe…"

The anguished cry of pain cut through the silent building sending a chill down all of their spines. That was Nate, they were all sure of it. Parker slipped past Eliot and ran into the building before anybody could stop her and just as another blood curdling cry rang out. Parker ran straight for the sound, she was fast, faster than the others even in her weakened state. As she rounded a corner into another section of the building she came to a halt. There hanging from the ceiling was a man. He was facing away from her and he was completely naked. She could see thick ugly red welts across his back from which blood trickled down. His feet where shackled and a heavy weight hung from them, his head was bowed forward. For a second she was frozen staring at the sight. Eliot and the others caught up to her in that time and before she could spring forward into action Eliot caught her and held her back. He could not see Pennington and they needed to make this quick and efficient if they were going to stop the man from doing more damage to Nate. Just then another scream shattered the silence and Eliot saw Nate's body jerk violently the smell of burning flesh reaching his nostrils. He gave a low growl of pure anger and then sprang forward.

**Thank you all so much for the great reviews. I am very happy that you are all still enjoying the story. Sorry for the little cliff hanger…**


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

**OK I think I should warn that this is a very dark chapter with scenes of torture.**

Nate felt the jab and that was the last he knew until he awoke again in excruciating pain. His arms were bent behind him and he was suspended from a beam in the ceiling. He could feel a heavy weight pulling him down putting pressure on his arms that were already stretched to the limit by the position he had been placed in. He could feel wires cutting into his ankles and assumed the weight he felt was something that was attached to him at that point. He was being stretched out and his muscles were straining against and aching at the uncomfortable way he was hanging.

"You are awake…" Pennington said as he heard Nate groan. He was standing with his back to the man setting up his table of torture.

Nate did not answer the man he merely screwed his eyes against the sharp light from the spotlights that Pennington had set up centring on him. He could feel the strain being taken by his shoulders and he was sure if he remained in this position he would dislocate one if not both in the near future. Looking down at himself he saw that he was completely nude and the dressing on his leg had been removed.

Pennington turned from the table and approached him. He smiled at Nate and then slowly circled him. He was holding a cat o' nine tails, a vicious looking whip with long strands which each had numerous little balls in them.

"I have waited many years for this you know Ford. I spent nights in a dark cell thinking only about you…" He said as he ran the strands over his hands gently. "The others too of course, but you, you were the one who planned it, you were the responsible one." He said gently slapping the long strips across Nate's back making the Mastermind tense up and causing pain to course through him from his shoulders at the movement.

Nate could not see Pennington as he stood behind him. He knew what was coming but was still caught off guard as the tails of the whip bit into his naked back drawing blood as they did.

"Twenty years of my life Ford, that is what you cost me." Pennington said using the whip again causing Nate to cry out in pain. "You made me into this…" He said lashing out again drawing another cry of pain from his prisoner. "I thought we would start off slow…" He said as he struck for a third time. Nate's back was now red with long angry welts cutting across it punctuated by tiny indents where the balls had buried themselves into his flesh. "Just so that we can get into the swing of things..." He said then he lashed out again and again until the blood flowed freely down the Masterminds back.

"There that wasn't so bad now was it…?" Pennington said coming to stand in front of Nate again and looking up into Nate's eyes. "Don't you have anything to say Ford…don't you want to tell me that I don't need to do this, that you understand what I went through…?" Pennington asked the Mastermind. Nate remained silent, his blue eyes not turning from his tormentor in defiance.

"Let's see…" Pennington said moving back to the table. He picked up a long serrated knife and lovingly ran it over his hand. "This is one of my favourites." He said turning back to Nate. "Mmm the doctors did a good job with this…" He said pointing to Nate's wound with the tip of the knife. "You know they say never reopen old wounds…" He said as he dug the knife in and pulled it along the leg slicing the flesh open. Nate screamed in agony and instinctively tried to jerk his leg away from the knife. All he managed to do was to dislocate his left shoulder and make the wire attaching the weight to his ankles but deeper adding to his torment.

"Ohhhh…." Pennington said hearing the popping of the shoulder and looking up at his captive. "That had to hurt…" He smiled at him. "Now let's see…" He said as he lifted the knife again. Pennington dug the knife in, not deep enough to cause damage but deep enough to draw blood and cause pain for his victim. He drew the blade down from Nate's chest to his belly leaving a long ragged cut which leaked out blood. The blood formed droplets and dropped to the floor sounding like a tap that had been left open to drip. "Now look at that Ford…you look like you need a wash…" He smiled at the man walking back to his table and picking up a hose.

Pennington turned it on and a gush of water hit Nate making his body sway and causing him excruciating pain. He found the stream of water aimed at his face and he felt as if he were drowning, unable to stop the water from hitting him spluttered and coughed swallowing water as he tried to breath, until he was sure he would drown in the strong spray. Then the water stopped and silence filled the room.

"Nothing to say Ford…? Not going to say that you didn't know…that if you had…that was what they said." Pennington asked again as he returned to his work table selecting another tool. "You are so good at using words aren't you...?" He said turning back to the Mastermind who was now only semi- conscious and in almost unbearable pain. "You know we are only getting started?" Pennington said basking in the power he had over the man.

"Go to hell…" Nate managed to get out between gritted teeth. He was not going to give this man the satisfaction of making him beg for mercy. He was not going to get it anyway and if he could get Pennington angry enough he might kill him quicker.

Pennington's eyes darkened at Nate's words and his mouth contorted into an angry snarl as he quickly dropped the tool he had and picked up another. A long cylindrical bar that had a rubber handle to make it easier to wield.

"Go to hell…" He snarled out at Nate swinging the bar and connecting with Nate's abdomen sending the man swinging backward, not a word emitted from him though as the air was knocked from him and he was finding it hard to breath let alone scream. "I…" Pennington said emphasising his words with another swing. "Am…" He said landing a third blow this time to Nate's side and breaking his 'floating ribs'. "Already…" He said this time striking Nate's left leg shattering the shin bone. "There…" He shouted at Nate hitting him for a fourth time this time on his right side breaking more of his ribs. Then Pennington lifted the bar and was about to strike again when he looked at the Mastermind and saw that he had passed out from the pain. He drew a deep shaky breath as he got his emotions under control and turned away from his captive.

"No…no…no…" He said shaking his head and dropping the pipe. "Very clever Ford…" He said turning back to the Mastermind with the hose in his hand again. "But you are not getting off that easily." Pennington turned the hose on, this time the stream was slow and soft. He climbed the ladder beside Nate and let the water run down over the Masterminds head drenching him in the cold water. The water turned red as it ran over Nate's body washing away the blood from his wounds. Nate was brought back to consciousness spluttering as the water washed over his face.

"There…" Pennington said nodding happily as Nate coughed, speckles of blood painting his lip as he did. He was bleeding internally from the blows he had received. "Now why don't we slow this down again a little…I mean the night is yet young, we have so much time to spend together."

Pennington moved back to his table and picked up the instrument that he had intended to use before Nate had angered him so. He walked back to Nate holding up the instrument for him to see.

"Do you know what this is Ford…?" Pennington asked. "It's a Picana…a very special instrument. Properly made and regulated it can inflict pain without causing too much physical damage. Used in the right places…" Pennington said his eyes glinting at the prospect of what he was going to do. "It can cause intense pain, even madness…I saved it just for you, I didn't even use it on the others."

Pennington moved closer to Nate keeping his eyes locked on the Mastermind as he wielded the instrument. Nate felt an agonising pain rip through him as the instrument was applied to him. He screamed and bucked causing more damage to his shoulder. Tears streamed down his face as the electricity flowed through him from where Pennington had applied the device. Pennington pulled his hand away and watched as Nate's body still convulsed even though he had stopped his ministrations.

"Ohhh Kahn was right, this is good." He said admiring the instrument for a moment before applying it again sending Nate into a world of continual pain. Then Nate's screams stopped although his body still convulsed. "Dammit Ford…can't you stay awake for longer than that…?" Pennington cursed him picking up the hose and climbing the stairs again. Once he had revived the Mastermind once again he climbed down the ladder and put the instrument back onto the table for later use.

"I am a little tired now…" Pennington said taking a bottle of whiskey which he also had on the table and putting a cigar in his mouth. "I think I'll just take a breather." He lit the cigar and moved to stand before the Mastermind. Nate watched, his eyes half closed and clenching his jaw shut trying to breathe through the fiery pain that consumed his body. Then Penning reached out with the cigar and jammed it into his chest. He felt the searing pain and cried out his scream echoing through the empty building. "Now look what you did…" Pennington said looking down at his cigar then back up at Nate. He took a sip of his whiskey then relit the cigar taking a long draw on it. The end was burning bright when he applied it to Nate's chest once more.

Pennington did not hear the Hitter come at him but he caught the movement out of the corner of his eye. Eliot slammed into him sending him to the floor and skidding headlong into his table of torture, knocking it over and sending his tools flying. Eliot was immediately on his feet and was onto Pennington, but Pennington was ready for him, he wielded the weapon he had used on Nate only minutes before stopping Eliot in his tracks as the electricity flowed through him. Dropping the instrument he picked up the long serrated knife ready to drive it into the Hitter when another body came for him. He made his feet quickly and swung himself around feeling the butt of the knife strike the oncoming man sending him unconscious to the floor. He turned back to the table…he needed the gun that was there, that was when he felt the heavy weight of somebody as they jumped on his back. He swung around throwing the black haired woman from his back and then grabbed the gun firing a shot in her direction.

"Sophie…" Nate cried out as he realised what was happening and he saw the bullet hit Sophie. Then Pennington turned to the Hitter who was beginning to shake off the effects of the Picana and fire again. "No…God no…" Nate whispered closing his eyes to shut out a sight he could not bear, his family were being killed, Sophie was…no…no…no…he told himself and then gave into the oblivion that engulfed him.

Eliot watched Pennington turn after he saw Sophie. He heard Nate's weak cry and then he grabbed for Pennington's arm pulling him closer before he could depress the trigger, straight into the blade of the knife he had used on Nate, which Parker had thrown to him. Eliot felt the rush of the man's blood flow over his hand and the look of surprise on the mans' face as he realised what had happened. Eliot dug the knife in deeper pulling Pennington into a tight embrace. Then he moved back allowing the body of Lawrence Pennington to fall lifeless to the ground.

"I'm fine Eliot…" Sophie told him as he moved towards her. "Nate…"

Eliot turned to the Mastermind who was obviously unconscious. Hardison was back on his feet and moved to Nate. Quickly Eliot removed his jacket and wrapped it around the Masterminds waist, Nate would be mortified to be naked in front of all of them.

"Get up the ladder Hardison and get him loose." Eliot said as he worked on the wire around Nate's ankles, loosening them and lowering the heavy weight that had been attached to the Mastermind. He could tell that his left leg was broken so worked as carefully as he could. Parker and Sophie stood next to him waiting to receive Nate's limp form as Hardison started to lower him down.

"Oh God…" Sophie said taking in all the injuries that had been inflicted. She could see the bruising on his stomach and could also see by the discolouration and the little droplets of blood around his mouth that he was bleeding internally.

Gently the three of them received Nate laying him down on the ground Sophie worried about the wounds on his back and tried to hold him up slightly. Nate was barely breathing and his pulse was slow and irregular. Eliot took one look at the Mastermind and told them that there was no time to wait for an ambulance. He told Hardison to get the car ready and then lifted the man into his arms. He started towards the exit with the others in tow. Sophie helped Parker who was looking a little paler and was struggling to keep up with the others. Once at the car Sophie climbed in on the one side and Parker on the other in the back. Eliot loaded Nate in with Parker and Sophie helping until his head lay on Sophie's lap and his feet were cradled by the Thief. Then he and Hardison climbed in and Eliot set off for the nearest hospital. Sophie and Parker were now soaked in Nate's blood as he lay unmoving. Sophie bent forward kissing Nate's lips gently and whispering to him to hold on, that they had him, that Pennington was done, she begged him to just hold on as she ran her hands through his wet hair. Her lips were now also covered in his blood as each breath brought more blood and his breathing became more ragged and harsh. She ignored the pain from the gunshot in her shoulder, it was irrelevant. Parker kept her eyes on the Mastermind to, willing him to stay alive until they could get him to the hospital. She was sure if he survived till then then he would be alright, Nate was always alright. Hardison looked back, first at his girlfriend who looked as pale as a ghost, her shirt now completely covered in blood, not only from the Mastermind but from her own leaking wound. He turned back to Eliot and urged the man to go faster. They pulled up at the hospital and Eliot scrambled out the car running into the emergency room and calling for a doctor. The doctors and the nurses got to the car and got Nate out and onto a gurney. Then another nurse helped Sophie out of the car and onto a gurney even though she fought against it.

"The only way you can help Nate now Sophie is to take care of yourself." Eliot told her and his words brought her to her senses as she allowed the doctors to take her into an examination room.

"You too…" Hardison said helping Parker onto another gurney and calling for another doctor. He stayed with her as they pushed her into an adjoining exam room.

Eliot watched them go in as he was left alone in the waiting room. He sat down and put his head in his hands and sighed heavily. He looked up and stood quickly as he saw Nate being wheeled out of the room he had been taken into at some speed. He had been intubated and he could see by the doctors' faces that things were not good. He did not have a chance to ask but assumed that the Mastermind was being rushed to surgery. He knew the man was bleeding internally and he was not sure what other damage had been done. Once the doors closed behind Nate he sat down heavily again to await news of his other team members. Hardison joined him a few minutes later having being asked to leave Parker room by the attending physician. The two men sat in silence. A few minutes later Sophie was wheeled out of her room by the nurses and the doctor attending to her.

"We need to get her to surgery. The bullet is still in her shoulder." The doctor explained.

"Eliot…Nate…" Sophie asked reaching out for the Hitter.

Eliot took her hand as he walked with them to the elevator which would take her to the operating theatre.

"He's alive Sophie… they've taken him to surgery." Eliot told her. He could not say any more as they pushed Sophie into the elevator and the doors closed.

Only about twenty minutes after that Parker was wheeled out of her room.

"She is fine. We will keep her overnight. She lost some blood and we had to clean and re-stitch the wound." The doctor told them. "I need to speak to you." He said as Hardison walked beside Parker holding her hand. Eliot nodded and told Hardison to go with Parker.

"What happened here?" The doctor immediately asked the Hitter. "One woman with a gunshot wound to the shoulder, another with a reopened wound, probably a gunshot wound to the chest and another with…God knows what was done to him. I am going to have to notify the authorities about this."

"Do what you must, but if you are going to notify anybody, then notify Interpol. Here is the number of one of their agents. Tell her it's about Sterling she will know what is going on." Eliot said giving the doctor the name of the agent that had worked with Sterling the last time they had tangled with him. He hoped that when she arrived he would be able to make her understand. With all the evidence against Pennington and the fact that he could tell her where his body was should be enough he thought. She could solve the mystery of her partners' death and for that she could give them a little leeway.

The doctor took the card and nodded. He did not know what was going on but if this was related to Interpol he was not sure he wanted to know. Eliot told him to tell the woman where he was. He also asked if they could be notified about Sophie or Nate in Parker's room. The doctor agreed and then Eliot left to join Hardison to begin the long vigil for both Sophie and Nate.

**I know very dark…So will Nate survive? Will Sophie be alright? How will Agent Kasey react when she gets to the hospital? Thank you all again so very much for taking the time and making the effort to review, all reviews are greatly appreciated.**


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

It was four hours later that they all stood next to the Grifter's bed, including Parker who had refused to stay put after waking up and being told that Sophie was out of surgery. Eliot and Hardison had showered and changed into some scrubs that the nurses had generously supplied for them.

"Nate…" Sophie mumbled as she came out of the anaesthesia. "Nate…" She said again panic starting to set in in her muddled mind.

"Shhh…Shhh…Sophie it's ok, everything is ok…" Parker said taking the woman's hand and squeezing it gently.

"Parker…?" She asked opening her eyes slowly.

"Yes…it's me…" Parker said.

"Nate…"

"He's still in surgery Sophie…they will come and let us know here when there is any news." Eliot reassured her.

"He's going to be fine Sophie…he's Nate and Nate is a fighter and…" Hardison said trying to reassure her. "He's going to be fine…" He said softly.

Sophie looked at Eliot and saw in his eyes that he did not think Nate was going to be 'fine'. She closed her eyes but the tears still escaped them as she remembered what he looked like and thought about what he had gone through.

"Sophie you need to rest." Eliot said coming to stand beside the woman. "I promise as soon as there is news…good or…or bad…I will wake you."

Sophie did not respond. She tried to get the image of Nate hanging in that building, bleeding and beaten but she could not. She tried to block out the sound of his screams but she could not. Eventually through the mixture of drugs and exhaustion she fell into a restless haunted sleep.

It was only a few minutes after Sophie had fallen asleep that there was a knock on the door. Eliot turned to see Agent Kasey standing in the doorway staring in at the sleeping woman.

"Mr Spencer…" Agent Kasey asked looking at Eliot. She had never met them, except Nate of course and the only one she had seen was Alec Hardison, although that just turned out to be dummy, used as a ruse to get the others into the building.

"Yes." Eliot said stepping forward and directing her into the room closing the door behind her.

"The doctor has filled me in on the…situation with regards Mr Ford and the others." She said looking from Parker to Sophie.

"Yes. I'll make this brief." Eliot said holding out his hand to Hardison who passed him a flash drive containing all the information on Pennington and what had happened. "On there…" He said handing it over to the agent. "You will find all the information you need. Essentially Sterling and Nate along with some others put a man away a long time ago for art theft. He is the one who killed Sterling and, as you will see on there, a few others. His name is James Pennington and you will find his body at this address." Eliot said handing her a piece of paper.

"His body…?" Agent Kasey asked.

"I killed him." Eliot said simply and unapologetically.

"Mr Spencer, I am going to need full statements." Agent Kasey told him, she could sense the tension amongst the three people in the room and it was not because of her presence nor the fact that he had just admitted to an Interpol agent that he had killed a man. "How is Mr Ford?" At the question she saw his eyes darken with sadness and she had her answer. Not good. "Ok…" the agent said. "I will check this all out."

Eliot shook her offered hand and opened the door for her. She stopped as she exited and turned around. "I hope…I hope this ends well for all of you. Mr Ford was a…is a good man I think." She said unexpectedly. Although she had arrested him and he was clearly not a law abiding citizen, she knew Sterling had respected him and she could not help but like him even though she had not spent that much time with the man. If he had gone through what Sterling had…then God help him. Then Kasey left them and Eliot turned back to his vigil over Sophie and the wait for news on Nate.

By the time the doctor came to find them six hours had passed. Sophie was still out and so was Parker. Hardison had sourced a second bed and wheeled it into the room so that the little Thief could lie comfortably. The doctor entered the room but before he could start to tell them anything Eliot held up his hand and moved to Sophie's side.

"Sophie…Sophie…" He called softly pulling the woman out of her sleep. "The doctor is here." He told her. Sophie was immediately awake and with the help of Eliot sat up in the bed. Hardison got Parker awake and then all of them turned to look at the doctor.

The doctor looked at the four people seeing the fear and trepidation on all their faces as they waited to hear the news. He took a deep breath before starting.

"Mr Ford as you know came in with multiple injuries. Our main concern was the internal injuries he sustained. He had massive haemorrhaging in his lower abdomen; most of his ribs were either broken or cracked. He had crush injuries to his chest which put pressure not only on his lungs but his heart as well. We were able to repair the damage and stop the bleeding. We had to give him multiple transfusions because of the amount of blood he lost. He also received further damage to his lungs from being drowned…?" The doctor looked at the group questioningly, he did not understand the reason for the water on the lungs and clearly from the surprised look on their faces nor did they. Nobody said anything as they waited for him to continue. "As to his other injuries, the major one was the cut on his leg which severed the muscles. The cut down his chest was shallow but was also a factor in the loss of blood. Then he also had multiple lacerations on his back from being…flogged. His ankles were severely damaged as the bonds on them cut deep, right down to the bone in places. He also had a dislocated shoulder and his left shin was shattered, the orthopaedic surgeon will have to look at that once he is more stable. He had numerous other injuries but they are minor in nature." The doctor continued listing the litany of injuries Nate had sustained at the hands of Pennington.

"Is he going to be alright?" Parker asked. She did not care what had been done to him, injuries could heal, they would help him heal, she just wanted to know if Nate would be alright.

"Miss… The doctor said his eyes softening as he prepared to give them the bad news.

"Parker…"

"Parker, I am afraid Mr Fords' injuries are very severe. He survived the surgery and we have him in ICU. He is not breathing on his own and as for right now I am afraid it is not looking good. The next forty eight hours will give us a better indication."

"But he is going to be alright…?" Parker asked again she wanted an answer. She wanted the doctor to tell her that Nate was going to be ok, she needed him to tell her.

"I cannot tell you that Parker. It depends a lot on him now. We have done what we can but the injuries, as I said, were great."

"Nate's a fighter." Hardison said softly wrapping his arm around Parker. If it depended on Nate now then he would fight and he would get better.

"That is good." The doctor said. "But I must warn all of you to be prepared." The doctor said, he did not want to give them false hope. In his experience, people did not come back from these types of injuries very often and the odds were that Nathan Ford was not going to make it.

"Can we see him…?" Sophie spoke for the first time lifting her eyes which held such sadness in them it almost took the doctors breath away.

"Mrs Ford, he is in ICU and one of our greatest enemies for patients in his condition is infection. He has many exposed wounds and the slightest infection, or if he gets septicaemia it could cause great harm and put his life in even more jeopardy. Therefore we are not allowing any visitors, however you will be able to see him through the glass."

Sophie did not answer she merely nodded. She might never touch him again, never hold his hand, she might never get to tell him how much she loved him or, if the worst did happen, she would never get to say goodbye to him. Emotions flooded through her but she held them in check. She could not break down now, she had to be strong, for Nate. As long as he was breathing there was hope and she was not going to give up on him.

"Do you have any further questions?" The doctor asked them. "I will have a nurse inform you of any changes to his condition." He said when none of them spoke.

"I need to see him Eliot." Sophie said looking up at the Hitter.

"Sophie…"

"Please Eliot. I need to see him." She said again. Eliot looked from her to the other two then nodded.

Eliot instructed Hardison to get them another wheelchair for Sophie and Parker helped the woman put on a gown before Eliot helped her into the chair. Parker walked beside Sophie with Hardison supporting her as Eliot pushed her along. They did not speak on the short trip to the ICU, all of them afraid of what they were going to see. Eliot pushed the chair up to the window and then looked in.

Nate lay propped slightly to the side by a contraption he presumed was there to relieve the pressure on his back. He was hooked up to a myriad of machines including the respirator.

"Oh God Nate…" Sophie said placing her hand on the window tears slipping from her eyes.

They stood there for what seemed like forever watching as the nurses came and went checking on the Mastermind's condition. Eliot watched the monitors and saw the readings were dangerously low. He's not going to make it back from this…Eliot thought to himself as he kept his eyes locked on the still form.

As they stood there suddenly there was a bevy of movement in the room, doctors and nurses rushed in and over the intercom the dreaded words were spoken "Code Blue…ICU 3 Code Blue…"

"Nate…" Sophie cried out watching as the doctors worked on him. She saw them start CPR and then watched as Nate's body jerked when the paddles were applied. Eliot kept his eyes on the machines watching as the heart rate went berserk and then he saw all activity cease.

"Dammit Nate fight..." He said hissed out.

A minute later the monitors sprung back to life indicating that they had managed to pull Nate back from the brink. But Eliot could see the readings were low and the heartbeat weak, it was only a matter of time he thought to himself. They watched as the nurses readjusted his bed again getting him back in the position he was in before and checked that all the machines were in place. Then the doctor came out to meet with them.

"Doctor…"

"I am sorry Mrs Ford but he is not responding. I seems as if he…" The doctor did not know how to tell them that in his experience all signs were that his patient had given up, stopped fighting, and it was only a matter of time before the inevitable happened.

"No…he is a fighter, he will fight." Sophie said as she heard the implications in the doctors' voice. "I need to touch him, to talk to him. We need to…"

"Mrs Ford he is in a coma, and as I said before infection…"

"I don't care." Sophie said glaring at the doctor. "You don't understand."

"Believe me Mrs Ford I do…"

"No you don't. He thinks we…he thinks he is alone." Sophie said softly. The others eyes went wide and then they understood. The last thing Nate saw was Sophie being shot and Hardison and Eliot in trouble. He thought his family were dead, he thought he had failed and Pennington had won. "He needs to know he is not alone." Sophie whispered plaintively.

"Mrs Ford…"

"He needs to know that there is still something…somebody to fight for." Sophie said her tearstained eyes looking plaintively at the doctor. He had to let them go in, he had to let them give Nate the strength he needed to get through this.

"We will take all the precautions you require." Eliot said stepping forward. "Just please let Sophie go in." He said. He had never begged for anything in his life but he was willing to start if it would help get Sophie in that room.

Eliot realised Sophie was right. He heard in his mind Nate's cry when Sophie had gone down, he had been awake and aware when they had fought Pennington. After Sophie, he and Hardison had fallen, that was when the Mastermind had been silent, sinking into unconsciousness. Nate was not fighting and it was because he thought he had nothing left to fight for. If Sophie did not get to touch and talk to him they would definitely lose him. If there was any chance at all, no matter how ridiculous the hope was, that Sophie being in that room could stop that, well he would do whatever it took to get her there.

The doctor looked at the group and then back down at the woman. His patient was dying anyway, his vital signs were weakening all the time. There was little hope of survival and if this would help the woman who was so obviously distraught, then he felt he could take the risk of letting her in.

"Ok, but only for a few minutes and only you Mrs Ford." The doctor said calling his nurse to him. "Take Mrs Ford in to see her husband. Make sure she is appropriately attired." He instructed. The nurse nodded and pushed Sophie's wheelchair into the ICU.

The others waited keeping their eyes locked on the Mastermind waiting for Sophie to make an appearance. She appeared a few minutes later being helped by the nurse to walk to Nate's bedside.

"Don't be afraid to touch him." The nurse said helping her get closer to the Mastermind.

Sophie reached out and lightly put her hand on his, it felt cold and lifeless. The only movement was the slow rise and fall of his chest in rhythm with the respirator which hissed intermittently sending oxygen into him.

"Nate…" Sophie whispered to him. "I am here. I am safe and alive and so are the others. Pennington is finished Nate, we are safe. You won…we won…" She said squeezing his hand in hers. "You have to fight, we are right here beside you, please my darling." She said trying to hold back her tears. She hoped he heard her she prayed he heard her. "Nate I love you, I love you so much and…and I can't lose you, not now. Please my darling, please fight, you can come back to me, you must." She begged him.

"Mrs Ford…" The nurse said seeing that she was getting overwrought and besides she had already been with him for more than the five minutes the doctor had stipulated.

"Ok…" Sophie said lifting Nate's limp hand and kissing it gently. "I'm here my love. We are all here, please fight Nate…please." She said. Then she placed his hand gently back on the bed and allowed the nurse to help her out of the room.

"Let's get you back to the room now." Eliot said seeing that the woman was emotionally and physically exhausted after she emerged from Nate's room. There was nothing to be done here and she needed her rest.

"I don't want to leave him alone." Sophie said softly.

"Sophie, no matter if we are here, or in the room, he will never be alone, he knows that…" Eliot told her and she could see the emotion in his eyes. She had never seen Eliot so close to breaking as she did just then.

"Ok…" Sophie finally agreed. Eliot nodded and took hold of the wheelchair pushed her towards their room.

The four of them made their way back to Sophie and Parker's room. They got Sophie back into her bed and within minutes the woman had passed out. Parker and Hardison sat together on her bed just holding each other, Parker no longer able to hold back the tears she had been fighting and Hardison too being close to emotional breakdown.

"I…I think I'll go out for some air." Eliot told the two of them. "Take care of her." They both nodded and Eliot left making his way out of the hospital.

He walked a little way to a nearby bench and then sat down. He was numb; he did not know how to feel. He had lost people before, people who were close to him. But this was different; the pain he felt in his chest at the thought of Nate dying was almost overwhelming. He sat on that bench for at least an hour reliving some of the moments that had shaped his life over the last five years. Nate had changed him, changed who and what he was, Nate had saved him, it was a pity he could not say the same for himself, he had failed to save Nate, failed to protect him. He swiped at his eyes brushing away the tears before they could fall. When he finally stood and walked back into the hospital he decided to go check on the Mastermind before going to Sophie. Making his way up to the ICU his heart skipped a beat as he looked into the room Nate was in. The bed was empty and there were bloody bandages and other paraphernalia scattered around on the floor.

"Nurse…" He called running to the duty station. "Where is Nate…Mr Ford…what happened?"

"Oh…he started bleeding internally again, they have taken him back into surgery. You can wait here and I will see what I can find out for you." She told him recognising the young man from before.

Eliot nodded unable to say anything. He made his way to one of the chair and sat down heavily running his hand over his face slowly. "Please…" he said to himself. "Please don't die Nate." Eliot alternated between sitting and pacing waiting for some sort of news. Eventually he saw Nate's doctor walking towards him.

"Mr Spencer." The doctor said as he approached.

"Nate…" Eliot choked out the name afraid that Nate was gone and by the look on the doctors' face that was a strong possibility. How was he going to tell Sophie and the others?

"Yes…I am sorry…" The doctor said and Eliot just nodded as he proceeded to give Eliot the news on the Mastermind.

"I will come down and tell Mrs Ford…"

"No…no…I'll tell them." Eliot said. It would be better coming from him. He thanked the doctor and turned to make his way to the room.

Eliot made his way slowly to the room, his footsteps as heavy as his heart. Stopping just outside and drawing in a deep breath he brushed the unbidden and unwanted tears from his eyes before he stepped into the room to find the three of them sitting and chatting, he could hear they were talking about Nate and all their adventures together.

"Eliot…" Hardison said seeing the Hitter standing in the doorway. "Where have you been…I…Eliot, what's wrong…?" Hardison said suddenly realising that something was terribly wrong.

"Eliot…" Sophie said looking at the Hitter and seeing the distress in his eyes as he looked at her.

"It's Nate…Something happened and…" Eliot stopped trying to find a way to tell them.

"Oh no…Nate…" Sophie whispered as the Hitter stepped into the room closing the door behind him and walking directly to the Grifter's' bed taking her hand in his before he continued.

**Oh dear another cliff hanger... **** Is Nate dead? How will they react to the news that Eliot is about to give them? Thank you all for reading and reviewing, I am happy that you are all still enjoying the story.**


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

"Please Eliot don't say it…" Sophie said softly as Eliot took her hand.

"No he's not dead but…" Eliot said and he saw the relief in her eyes as he told her Nate was still alive. "He started bleeding internally again and they lost him on the table…They managed to bring him back and stop the bleeding…"

"So he's fine…" Parker breathed.

"No Parker he isn't." Eliot said looking up at the woman and then back at Sophie. "He is not responding to any stimuli, not pain nor light nor anything, He is on full life support now and his organs are failing, they may have to put him on dialysis in the next few hours. The doctors don't think…he's in a vegetative state Sophie…He's not coming back from this."

"Don't you dare say it's over Eliot Spencer. He's breathing and he still has a chance." Sophie said knowing what was coming next. "And if the doctors think I am going to give permission for them to do anything then they have another thing coming."

"I hold his medical proxy Sophie…" Eliot said softly.

"But I am his WIFE…" Sophie said pulling her hand away from the Hitter. "I know him better than any of you, better than you ever will Eliot and I am telling you that as long as he is alive there is a chance. Nate will find his way back."

"Sophie I didn't mean…"

"I know what you meant and…" Sophie said her eyes softening slightly. "I know you mean the best for Nate."

"No he doesn't…" Parker hissed at the Hitter. She understood exactly what Eliot was saying and she was not going to have any of it.

"Yes he does Parker…" Sophie said not looking at the Thief but keeping her eyes on the Hitter. "But he doesn't know what's best for Nate right now. I know…and Eliot is not going to do anything." Sophie said keeping her eyes locked with the Hitters. "Are you Eliot?"

"No…" Eliot replied. He knew what he should do. He knew what Nate's wishes were and he knew that Nate had made him his medical proxy exactly for this reason, but he could not do it. He could not order the machines switched off, not without Sophie's blessing.

"I need to go to him." Sophie said. She pushed herself up on the bed and swung her legs over the edge. "I can walk…" She said when Eliot brought the chair closer. Sophie grabbed her gown that Parker had thrown at the bottom of the bed earlier and put it on. Then she allowed Eliot to help her as she walked slowly out of the room followed by the other two.

The arrived at the ICU, Nate lay as he had before but now there were a few more machines around his bed and he looked even paler if that was possible. Sophie stared through the window then walked to the nurses' station telling her she wanted to see the doctor right then. The nurse was about to say that the doctor was not available but something in the Grifter's eyes told her not to argue with her. She paged the doctor who arrived ten minutes later.

"Mrs Ford…" He said seeing all of them gathered as he walked in. "I am so sorry…I know that this is a hard…"

"You can stop right there doctor I am not giving you permission to turn off the machines…" Sophie interrupted him. The doctor looked from her to Eliot, and then back, a confused look on his face.

"Did Mr Spencer not explain…?"

"He explained everything and I understand. But I am not willing to accept that Nate has no chance. So this is what we are going to do. You are going to allow me to sit with him, to be with him from now on."

"Mrs Ford…"

"No doctor. You are willing to tell me that my husband is already dead so don't give me that I could endanger his life by being in there." Sophie said, she remained completely calm as she spoke to the man. "I am going to go in there and I am going to be with Nate. If he dies…." Sophie said drawing in a sharp breath as she said it. "Then he will not be alone when it happens, I will be with him." Sophie continued. "But when he wakes up, and he will doctor, then I will be there too." She said making it clear that it was the second of those options that she believed in her heart was going to happen.

The doctor stared at her not sure what to say. Then he nodded giving in to the woman. "Alright Mrs Ford. All I ask is that you take all the precautions because if you are right and he is going to get through this, then we need to protect against infections."

"I will do anything you need. I will take all the precautions you require." Sophie agreed.

"Nurse…" the doctor said to the burse that stood beside him. "Mrs Ford will be allowed full access to her husband. Please make all the available arrangements." He said then he turned and left obviously not pleased with the way Sophie had spoken to him nor with the decision she had made. His patient was as good as dead, there was no hope of his recovering and she was not doing the man any favours.

Sophie then followed the nurse into the ICU and after donning the required precautionary clothes she entered Nate's room. Walking directly to the bed she took his hand, this time not afraid of the machines nor the wires attached to him. She was going to make him fight, she would give him the strength to come back to her, if she had to sit by his side for the next year, she would do it.

The three others watched as the nurse pulled a chair to the side of the bed and arranged it so that Sophie could sit beside Nate without interfering with any of the medical equipment. Then after she asked the Grifter if she needed anything else, she left the woman alone with the patient.

"Nate…they say you can't hear me, they say you are gone, but you have never done the expected so don't start now. You will fight Nathan and you will come back to me do you understand?" She said holding his hand tightly. "I did not wait for fifteen years for you to leave me alone now, that is not acceptable Nate." She continued. Her eyes were dry and her voice clear and firm. She was not going to mourn the man, nor was she going to beg him. She was going to be there for him and be strong so that could draw on that strength and use it to come back to her. Then she stared to talk to him, about everything, about their past, about their future.

Three hours later Sophie was still sitting by his side but she was tiring and the people sitting outside the room could see that. Eliot moved to the nurses' station and spoke a few words.

"Parker, the nurse is going to let you go in." Eliot told the Thief. Parker looked a bit confused. "She needs to rest. This is going to be a long vigil so we will take turns. Sophie doesn't want Nate to be alone and he won't be." Eliot explained.

Parker smiled at the Hitter and nodded. She went with the nurse and then entered Nate's room making her way to Sophie's side. As she got close to the woman she saw that the Grifter was near exhaustion. She was pale and Parker could see she was in pain having sat in the same position for such a long time.

"Sophie…I'll stay with him." Parker said softly.

Sophie looked up at the Thief then back at Nate. She did not want to leave the man but she knew she was not going to be able to stay much longer without collapsing.

"Talk to him Parker, tell him why we want him back, make him understand." Sophie said.

"I will, I promise." Parker said. She helped Sophie up and took Nate's hand that Sophie put in hers. "Don't let him go." Sophie told her and Parker understood the double meaning, nodding and smiling at Sophie before taking her seat beside the Mastermind.

Sophie emerged from the room and walked straight to Eliot.

"Take me back to my room Eliot, and then you make sure he is never alone. Not for one second." She said putting her trust in Eliot to make sure her wishes were carried out. Eliot nodded taking her arm and leading her down to her room.

Eliot made sure that Sophie's wishes were carried out and they took turns to sit with Nate, talking to him as Sophie wanted them too. This carried on for five days, with Nate never being alone, never not being held and spoke to by one of them. The doctors still remained sceptical and Nate's condition did not improve giving them more cause to believe their diagnosis correct. After the third day the doctor approached Eliot in order to try and convince the Hitter to exercise his rights and order the machines turned off to give Nate the peace he deserved. Eliot refused. It was not his call, as much as Nate has trusted him to do the right thing by him, he had underestimated the will of his wife and the fact that Eliot could never go against Sophie on this matter, no matter what his private thoughts were.

By the time the second week of the vigil Sophie was vindicated in her determination. Nate's vital signs started to improve and he was responding to pain stimuli. The doctors were surprised but not overly excited by the development. They still believed that nobody in the condition the patient was in could come back. But by the eleventh day they had to admit that Nate's progress was quite remarkable, he was strong enough for them to start weaning the Mastermind from the ventilator. They also decided to wean him off all of the drugs they were feeding him hoping that it would lead to him regaining consciousness. On the morning of the fourteenth day Sophie sat by Nate's side holding his hand and talking to him as she had done for the last two weeks. That was when she felt his hand twitch in hers and his eyelids flutter as he surfaced for the first time.

Nate's eye's fluttered open and but they were unfocused and filled with pain. They remained open only for a few seconds before he sank back into unconsciousness but it was enough.

"That's it my darling. You rest, and when you are ready, I will be here.

**Thank you for the great reviews. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter…at least it had a bit of a better, happier ending **


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

Nate was in a warm comfortable place. He could feel the pull on him wanting him to leave, he could hear the voices and he knew they were waiting for him to return, but he was not ready to. Every time he tried to pull himself out he felt pain flood his body and he sank back into the warm comfortable darkness that held him. He wished they would leave him there but they kept on, and he knew he had to try to tell them he was fine, he had to put their minds to rest. He heard her calling to him and this time he went passed the barrier of pain and pushed himself up and out of the darkness. He felt her hand in his and he tried to squeeze it giving her some comfort. He had one last barrier to pass and his eyelids fluttered as he fought his way back to full consciousness. Eventually he opened his eyes and started at the woman who sat holding his hand. He wanted to say something but with consciousness came a flood of pain that overwhelmed him and after only a few seconds he had to retreat back, back to his haven and away from the pain.

"That's it my darling. You rest and when you are ready I will be here." He heard her say as he sank back into the warm comfort of the darkness.

As Nate came out of consciousness the pain he felt caused his heart to start beating fast and his breathing became stuttered as if he was holding his breath and then taking short sharp breaths. Although Sophie did not notice it the machines did and they brought the doctors and nurses into the room in a rush.

"What happened?" The doctor asked as he checked the machines which had again settled into a steady rhythm.

"He…he opened his eyes…" Sophie said and for the first time she had taken up her vigil at his side the doctor could see tears fill them. They were not tears of sorrow though, they were tears of happiness and relief.

"I see…" The doctor said understanding. If the man had surfaced he understood why the machines had reacted the way they had, the man would be in excruciating pain when he did regain consciousness. He made a note on the medical charts ordering some stronger pain medication and less sedatives. Obviously the man was ready to resurface. "Well that is a good thing. Now he will be in great pain when he does regain consciousness, although his injuries are healing well, there are still some serious problems which we will have to revisit as his condition improves."

Sophie looked up at the doctor and nodded holding Nate's hand a little tighter. He was coming back to her. She had never doubted that he woud. She looked through the glass at the four other people watching her seeing their concern. They did not know why the nurses and doctors had rushed in. Sophie asked the doctor to tell them what had happened. She did not want to leave his side in case he surfaced again. The doctor agreed and then turned to go.

Sophie could see that he had told them that Nate had woken briefly, she saw Parker throw herself at Hardison grabbing the Hacker and hugging him tightly. She could see the reaction on their Hitter's face, for the first time in two weeks he saw a small tight smile from him and when their eyes met he nodded slightly to her before Parker turned to grab him pulling him into a hug. Sophie smiled and turned her attention back to Nate starting to talk to him again and running her hand over his forehead and through his hair as she did.

Four hours later Sophie released Nate's hand and left him in the care of Parker who took her place at his side. The Mastermind had not resurfaced again but Sophie was sure he was going to. He knew they were there, knew she was there and waiting for him and he would fight his way back. She knew he still had a long way to go. The wounds on his back and his leg were still healing and his internal injuries were also still healing. They had not touched his leg yet where Pennington had shattered his shin, they had the leg in a temporary cast but had done nothing further. Before Parker took her place she pulled Sophie into a hug tears welling in her eyes. Sophie smiled and squeezed the Thief tightly. Then after Sophie placed a soft gentle kiss on Nate's forehead she left the room to join the boys outside. It was early evening when they exited the hospital and they decided to go for dinner before returning to their penthouse to get some rest before going back to the hospital. Hardison would take over from Parker in four hours and then Sophie and Eliot would join them for the next one. The doctor still insisted that only one of them at a time could sit with Nate as his condition was still serious and the threat of infection was still great.

After they had returned from dinner and Sophie had taken a long hot bath, she climbed into bed and for the first time in a long time she fell asleep easily and slept peacefully. What felt like only a few minutes she awakened by Eliot's gentle shake.

"Eliot…what…what time is it?" She asked coming awake slowly.

"It's early Sophie…" Eliot said and she immediately knew by his tone that something was wrong.

"Eliot what…what happened?" She asked sitting up in the bed and stared at the Hitter.

"Nate developed a fever. The doctors think that his leg has become badly infected. They want to take him back into surgery."

Sophie pushed Eliot out of the way and quickly got dressed without saying anything further. Eliot was already ready and within a few minutes they were on their way to the hospital. Once there they made their way up to ICU as quickly as they could. They found the doctor there along with another doctor that Sophie had not seen during Nate's time at the hospital.

"Mrs Ford…" The doctor said seeing the woman approach. "This is Dr Catherine Jones, she is our best orthopaedic surgeon."

"Mrs Ford." The woman greeted.

"What's happening?" Sophie asked dispensing with all the niceties.

"As you know we were not able to properly treat your husbands' leg, where the bone had been shattered, he was not strong enough to survive the surgery. Now we have no choice, the leg has become infected, we are not sure how bad it is and we won't until we get him into theatre."

"You said he wasn't strong enough…"

"That was then Mrs Ford. His condition has improved substantially."

"But…"

"Mrs Ford I will not lie to you. Mr Ford is still very weak and there is substantial risk doing this operation, however if we do not do it then your husband will not survive." He saw the doubt and scepticism for his words in her dark brown eyes. He was asking her to put her husband at risk again. She did not trust him and he understood why, he had been sure that Nathan Ford would never regain consciousness let alone progress as far as he already had. He had been wrong and he had told her so but it did not change her feelings towards him.

"Mrs Ford I understand your reluctance. I understand your distrust of Dr Fuller. Believe me, I have examined your husband and you need to let me do this. You can see by his monitors that he is struggling, his fever is very high and the infection is already affecting his recovery negatively. I know what has happened in the last two weeks and I am amazed I must be honest, but your husband is a fighter and he needs to fight again, you need to trust that he can come through this Mrs Ford. You need to trust me that I will take care of him. Now I know you don't know me, and I know your distrust of doctors because of what has happened, but you need to trust me. I promise you I will do everything in my power to make sure that your husband comes out of surgery and back to you. But you have to let me do this." Dr Jones said. She reached out and took Sophie's trembling hands in hers. "I know you are afraid, afraid that after all of this you will lose him. Believe me I know, but if you don't let me try, the infection will take him, no matter what we do."

Sophie stared at the woman and then nodded to her. Jones smiled and squeezed her hands tightly.

"Why don't you go in and see him, then we will take him." She said. She wanted to get the man into surgery as soon as possible, time was against them, she had no idea how far the infection had progressed. What she did not tell Sophie was that she may, depending on the damage to the leg which she had not seen herself, apart from the x-rays, which told her the shin was completely shattered and not looking good at all, have to amputate. The attending's had done what they could but it was minimal, they were more concerned with his other injuries and keeping him alive. The fact was that when she got him under the knife she knew that she might have to amputate to save the man. Sophie had enough to deal with and she felt that that was a bit of information she did not need to deal with just then, besides she might refuse permission for her to operate at all under those conditions and that was not an option, not if Mr Ford had any chance of continuing on his recovery.

Once Sophie had spent some time with Nate she joined the other four and watched as Nate was once again taken to surgery leaving them to anxiously wait for him to return.

"He's a strong man Sophie, you proved that, you had faith and he came back." Eliot told her softly as they all sat together.

"Yes…" Sophie said looking at the Hitter with worried eyes. "But how much can one man endure Eliot…even a man as strong as Nate…?" She asked softly. How much more could Nate take, how much more fight did he have in him, was this going to be one bridge too far for him to cross. She knew he would not give up on her, and she would not on him, but even the bond between them might not be strong enough to pull him through this time.

The four sat together quietly waiting. Hardison went to get them all some coffee from the vending machines. Eliot varied from sitting to pacing as the hours dragged on. Sophie sat her eyes closed trying to make herself believe that Nate would come through this too. Parker sat staring blankly at the doors to the operating room through which they had taken Nate, she sat unmoving and silent. When Hardison returned he gave them all their coffee then sat down beside Parker wrapping his arm around her and they all resumed their vigil, waiting for any news.

It was five hours later and the sun was starting to peek through the windows when Dr Jones came out to talk to them. She looked exhausted and Sophie could not tell if she had good or bad news for them.

"Mrs Ford." She said smiling at the woman and Sophie felt like a weight had been lifted from her. It was good news. "Mr Ford came through with flying colours. We performed and open reduction and internal fixation of the bone in his shin. We rebuilt the bone using some bone from his hip and then fixed plates and screws to hold it together. We will have to keep a keen eye on him to make sure that we got all the infection and there is a chance of blood clots and bleeding around the wound along with further infection, but I am very optimistic." She told the Grifter.

"Thank you…" Sophie said in a shaky voice.

"Your husband is a fighter Mrs Ford, what he has gone through and survived is remarkable…" She told her then looked around at the group of people surrounding Sophie. "But I think he has something to fight for…" She smiled. "They will bring him back here as soon as he is out of recovery." She said then left the group alone again.

Nate returned to his room but he did not surface again for another three days. When he did Sophie could see he was in tremendous pain and he only managed to stay awake for a minute or so. He continued to get better though and within the next few weeks he was moved out of ICU and into his own room. Things were going well and the doctors agreed that his recovery was nothing short of a miracle. His leg too was healing well and Dr Jones was optimistic that he, with therapy, would regain the full use of the leg.

"Well Mr Ford, I never thought I would say this but I am happy to discharge you tomorrow." The doctor said as he stood in Nate's room four weeks later. "You will still have to take it very easy and I will let you have the name of a good physiotherapist who you can continue to see when you return to Portland."

"Thank you doctor..." Nate smiled at him squeezing Sophie's hand tightly as she stood beside his bed.

"I think you should thank them Mr Ford…" The doctor smiled at the group surrounding the Mastermind. "That is some family you have."

"He's right you know. I have some family…" Nate said looking at all of them in turn. "Thank you all, for not giving up on me…" He said looking directly at Eliot and then to Sophie who nodded giving him permission to continue. "I know we said we were out…but…"

"You're not. You're going to stay with Leverage International…?" Parker said excitedly her eyes lighting up.

"Sophie and I talked about it on honeymoon. We miss you and we…"

"Miss the job." Eliot said smiling. It was not about the job but trust Nate to have to bring it in to avoid it being all about emotion.

"We miss our family." Sophie said softly smiling at them all.

"Then let's go home…I have plenty of clients lined up and…"

"Slowly Hardison..." Sophie laughed. "Nate still has a lot of healing to do."

"And we will make sure he does…" Parker said happily. "But there is nothing wrong with his mind and he is the MasterMIND so he can do his part anyway…" She said.

"That he can…" Eliot concurred. He would be happy if Nate and Sophie remained outside of the dangerous area of the job and just provided the plans…and the advice and the support, they all needed them, both of them and he was just happy that they had realised that they needed the three of them just as much.

"Yes…" Nate said closing his eyes trying to hold back the emotion that was welling in him. He was alive, and he was with the people he loved. He had come so close to losing everything and he was beyond grateful for another chance.

"Ok…well let's go guys, we have some arrangements to make…" Eliot said moving his head to indicate that the other two should leave.

"See you later…" Parker said bouncing out the room dragging Hardison behind her. Eliot turned and looked at the two oldest members of his family and smiled farewell to them then left closing the door behind him.

"So Mr Ford…alone at last." She said making Nate scoot up in the bed as she kicked her shoes off and climbed on and after giving him a light kiss on the lips she rested her head on his shoulder as he ran his hand through her hair.

"I love you Mrs Ford…" Nate said tears in his blue eyes as he held her close to him.

"I love you Mr Ford, now and forever…" She said loving the fact that she was lying beside him as she listened to the steady beat of his heart.

They lay like that until they drifted off to sleep and the other three found them in the same position when they returned later that evening.

**Well that is the end of the story guys. I hope you all enjoyed it, and enjoyed the happy ending. I would really like to thank everybody for taking the time and making the effort to review, follow or favourite the story. A special thanks to Sphinxius, Sandy-wmd, ThunderAll Around, Leveragus, SusieDeveroux, Huttonfan, Stellaru, KendraBC, msj12991, intimidating, Grifter for Life and everybody else who left me reviews throughout the life of the story. I really appreciate it when I get feedback from my readers so that I know if the story is working. **

**I am looking for a premise for my next story so if anybody has any ideas for me they would be appreciated…**


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